


The Soldier Meets The Spy

by Phoebe_Snow



Series: Perfection Never Looked So Good [17]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attraction, Best Friends, F/M, First Meetings, Fix-It, Friends to Lovers, Male-Female Friendship, Recruitment, SHIELD, What-If, partners
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-02 07:28:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 29,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10212539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoebe_Snow/pseuds/Phoebe_Snow
Summary: Natasha is sent to recruit Steve for the Avengers Initiative.





	1. Recruitment and Appeal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mustang_Girl16](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mustang_Girl16/gifts), [ScarlettShel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarlettShel/gifts), [WinterXAssassin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterXAssassin/gifts), [Romanovascap](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romanovascap/gifts), [Fightingangels2k](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fightingangels2k/gifts), [Faith2nyc](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faith2nyc/gifts).



> I originally posted this on Instagram, but it was way too short and I had to extend it. I just really loved the idea of Nat recruiting Steve instead of Bruce. So if any of you have ever wondered what it would be like if Nat approached Steve instead of Fury at the end of TFA, here's my version of it! ❤️  
> Edit: I have decided to extend this story and go through the events of AoU and the following Captain America films. Rest assured, there will be no Brutasha or Staron present. This is a fix it fic and it's been a long time coming. :D

* * *

 

 

 

It was an old gym and there was nothing too modern about it. If you hadn't known you were in the 21st century, you probably wouldn't be able to tell it from being inside the place.

Not that this was a bad thing. Older buildings had a sense of class and distinction that modern ones lacked. In Natasha's mind, older was always a little better, more sturdy, harder to damage. In a strange way, that was how she was at heart.

The older she got, the less pain anyone could inflict on her. Natasha was skilled in the art of manipulation and she excelled at keeping her guard up around anyone and everyone she met. Her good looks made it easy for her to get missions where she had to seduce some one and steal important documents and such.

Being trained by the red room, Natasha was a master of espionage, extraction and infiltration. She was a very deadly fighter - there was a reason why some of the agents said they would never want to be caught in the Black Widow's _web_. She was not the kind of woman you cross and get away with.

Being the Black Widow gave Natasha a dangerous reputation, one she lived up to. Many people were afraid of her, hated her, didn't trust her. She was a walking enigma even to her coworkers at SHIELD and she preferred it that way. It wasn't easy, having someone's trust and giving yours to them. There were too many variables, things that could go wrong.

Save for Clint, Natasha had no one else in this world that she really trusted or cared about. There was Fury, who was sort of a mentor for her, but she wouldn't dare say that they were very close. She did trust him to an extent, but only as far as the job was concerned. The SHIELD director had just as many secrets as she did.

There was also Maria Hill, the woman who was Fury's second-in-command, with whom Natasha had a casual work friendship. They'd gone to the bar more than a few times and chatted about trifles, but nothing very deep. Opening up would probably never be Natasha's strong suit.

The redhead sighed and looked down at her watch. 6:28 pm. Steve was still in the gym and at this time, he was probably by himself. She got up and began walking from her secluded spot where she'd been waiting for everyone to leave so she could approach him alone.

It was quite clear to Natasha why Steve was working at this old gym, teaching younger boxers to fight. This place was like a tiny, safe part of the past, tucked away from the world. He was Captain America, a man out of time. The Nazis lost the war and Hitler was defeated. His battles were over, or so he may think.

Well, today, he'd get a chance to be a part of something that was worth putting his suit on again, but perhaps she was getting ahead of herself. Natasha hadn't even made contact with Steve yet, just observed him from afar and out of sight.

He struck her a man who was lost and in need of something to fight for. He deserved more than this. Being a trainer in a forgotten gym while the rest of the world carried on. Natasha had read Steve's SSR files. After everything he'd done in the war, he couldn't go back to Brooklyn and live an ordinary life.

Natasha had seen Steve Rogers in old photographs, but they didn't do him justice. Not now, in this place, as he pounded his fists on the punching bag in front of him. He was bigger than she expected, more handsome.

Suddenly, the bag flew across the room and landed on the wood floor with a great thud. She arched her eyebrows ever so slightly, impressed by the power behind that punch. Sure, she knew that he was just that strong, but it was still impressive. 

"Is there something I can help you with, ma'am?"

Natasha's eyes switched back to their original target and found him watching her closely. The redhead couldn't remember the last time anyone called her _ma'am_ , but she decided that she liked the way it sounded on Steve's lips. He was barely breathing hard and the sweat on his shirt made it see through, giving her an even better glimpse at his muscled torso.

For the first time in her life, Natasha Romanoff felt her stomach tighten. Ignoring the foreign sensation, she licked her lips and replied, "No, not just me," and she walked past him, moving towards the bag. She bent down and lifted the heavy bag with both hands and walked back in Steve's direction.

Once she was in front of him, she set the bag down and smirked. Steve's brows were furrowed, his facial expression a combination of confusion, surprise and...attraction? The first two were understandable. He probably took one look at her embroidered sleeveless shirt, matching dress and shawl and figured that she was a petite woman.

Go figure. She was a lot stronger than she looked. The mild glint of attraction had been surprising, to say the least. Heat rushed to Natasha's belly, which was an uncommon occurrence for her, but she kept her facial expression neutral.

He spoke again. "Then, if you don't mind my asking, what are you here for?"

Natasha placed a hand on her hip. He liked to get right to the point, didn't he? Well, she'd oblige him. "I need you to help me save the world."

Steve chuckled and shook his head, then he picked up the bag and hooked it onto the chain. "Save the world, huh? You know, you're not the first person to come to me with that line. It's getting kind of old." He wiped his hands on his pants and walked over to a small wood bench, picking up a towel and wiping his face off with it.

There was no doubt in Natasha's mind that he was referring to the many misguided sjws and paranoid conspiracy theorists who sent him newsletters and tried to get him to join their cause. Yes, she'd been watching Steve for several weeks before coming forward to talk to him now.

Even though SHIELD had thawed him out of the ice, they still kept tabs on him just in case. Fury chose not to approach Steve about the Avengers Initiative yet because he wanted to give Steve a little time to settle into the 21st century. Natasha wasn't sure why Fury sent _her_ to recruit the World War II hero, but she didn't complain. It could have been worse.

She could have gotten the big guy.

"I assure you that this is genuine."

"Saving the world," he repeated with a derisive chuckle. "Hmph. And how exactly do you plan on doing that?" There was a little cynicism in his retort.

Natasha bit back the urge to make a flirtatious joke like she normally did in this kind of situation to lighten the mood, but she chose not to. She wanted Steve to see that she was completely professional. "I don't suppose you've heard of something called the Avengers Initiative?"

"Can't say I have. What is it?"

"It's a team that my organization, SHIELD, is trying to put together. Basically, it's a team of people with extraordinary abilities who are a line of defense in keeping the planet safe from...otherworldly threats."

That got Steve's attention. He put the towel down and looked at her in curiosity, a million questions probably running through his head. Well, she couldn't answer all of them. Natasha reached into her oversized tote and pulled out a large beige folder. She held it out and he took it, their fingertips grazing for a split second.

"What is this?"

"Homework. It's a list of everyone else we're recruiting for the Avengers. Read them and let me know what you decide." Natasha placed a burner cell on top of the folder. "I added my number to the contacts. It's the only one on the phone." She paused and gave him a smirk. "You do know how operate one of these, right?"

The look on Steve's face was priceless. He wasn't offended, but it was obvious that he'd been a victim of many 'old man' jokes since he got out of the ice. Dryly, he said, "It's an iPhone. Yes, I know how to use it."

"Alright, then. I'll be in touch." She nodded to him and turned around, making her way out of the building. From the slight rustling behind her, Natasha knew that he was glancing at the files. 

 _Getting out this gym would be good for him,_ she thought to herself, although, she really had no idea why it came to her. Who was she to care about Captain America's well being?

"Wait."

Steve's voice made her stop in her tracks and she turned back to look at him. That curious expression was on his face again and she found herself fighting the urge to smile at him. "Yes?"

"What's your name?"

So that's what he wanted to know. The corner of her lips lifted just the merest inch and she replied, "Natasha Romanoff. Oh, and just a word of advice, Captain. I really think you should take the offer."

"Steve."

"What?"

He looked at the files in front of him, closed the one he'd glanced at and set it down on the bench. Then, he walked over to her until they were a few inches away from each other. "My name is Steve." His hand raised and he looked expectantly at her, obviously wanting her to shake it.

Natasha didn't hesitate to grasp his hand in hers and she shook it. Interestingly, her pulse did a little jump and her heart began to pound against her chest, which was odd. She'd never experienced such a feeling around a man before. "Alright...Steve. I hope to hear from you. We could really use a man of your talents."

A small curve of his lips graced his features and he replied, "We'll see."

The strong hand encompassing hers was warm and rough with callouses, but somehow it was gentle, too. Natasha realized that she didn't want to let go, but she did anyway. This wasn't the time or place to get caught up in a silly schoolgirl crush. As she turned and started to walk out of the room, she knew Steve's eyes were watching her.

It was premature for her to think so, but Natasha was certain that Steve would say yes. Then she would see him again, and there was no point in lying to herself. That prospect was very appealing. Something about Steve just made her feel better, somehow. This was definitely something she'd have to explore later.

 

 


	2. Part of Something Special

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _As the day goes by, Steve wonders about Natasha, the beautiful SHIELD agent who recruited him and finds himself warming up to her. Natasha, in turn, has inward turmoil about her encounter with Loki regarding her dark past._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! This chapter was a doozy! I'm honestly being challenged as I write The Soldier Meets The Spy because I'm digging deeper into Steve and Nat's personalities than I have for any of my other MCU-driven Romanogers stories.

* * *

 

  

"It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon," Natasha said to Steve as they walked together on the Helicarrier. She hadn't said much on the ride to the aircraft as the super soldier was brushing up on video footage of the other individuals Shield hoped to recruit for the Avengers. That and Coulson took up the rest of Steve's time by chatting with him.

She smirked as Steve said nothing, but looked away briefly, an awkward, yet adorable look appearing on his face. Natasha suspected that he wasn't used to all of the adoration he received from people yet. Not that she blamed him. "Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

"Trading cards?"

"They're vintage. He's very proud. Shows them off to everyone who wants to see them and even the ones who don't." Natasha looked at Steve and smirked as a sudden quote popped into her mind. _"He's your biggest fan,"_ she said in an ominous voice.

Steve stopped walking and looked at her in mild amusement. "That...sounds creepy, but I think you're teasing with me. Agent Coulson is a good man from what I can see and he's, uh, what's the term again?"

"A fanboy. He's a Captain America fanboy and since you're his hero in the flesh and working for the same agency that he is, he's probably doing his best to not freak out and scream in excitement."

"I'm sure you're just exaggerating..."

An eyebrow raised and Natasha's lips curved into a smirk. "No. I'm serious. When they were defrosting you, he sent me several texts about it. I could picture him grinning from ear to ear like a little kid in a candy store. Trust me, Coulson may be relaxed and calm on the outside, but he is a huge mushy geek on the inside."

"That's not bad. From what I've seen, geeks are more accepted now." There was a hint of pride in Steve's voice, not for himself, but in relief that the shy, sensitive guys like he was - still is, really - finally had their day.

"Yeah. Shy artists and all. It took the world too long to appreciate the merit in men like you."

Natasha's words surprised Steve and his eyes met hers. The redhead held his gaze and gave him a genuine smile. He was startled by how beautiful, how natural it looked on her face. Inwardly, he hoped he'd see more smiles like that in the future.

 

 

* * *

 

  
When Steve jumped down, Natasha whirled, ready to fire the Chit'auri weapon at him, but stopped when she saw who it was. Sighing, she leaned back against a taxi and said, "Captain, none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal." Natasha looked up at the blue tinged hole in the sky.

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it."

"Well, maybe it's not about guns."

"If you wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride."

Watching the Chit'auri aircrafts ride by in the air above them gave Natasha an idea. "I got a ride," came her reply as she let the energy spear fall to the ground. She began to walk several feet away from where she previously stood so she could get a running start for what she was about to do. "I could use a boost, though."

Steve understood what her intentions were and, as he moved back, he found that he was impressed by her quick thinking. "Are you sure about this?" He asked her, a questioning look on his face.

Natasha's heart began to pound so loudly that she heard it in her ears. Well, what the hell? She hadn't done anything daring like this in a while. And it would save the world, so that was worth risking her life, right? She nodded. "Yeah, it'll be fun."

_I don't know what your idea of fun is, but I'm sure life with you would never be dull._

Then the redhead ran forward and jumped onto the taxi, then jumped onto Steve's shield. Once her feet planted on his shield, Steve pushed as hard as he could. He stared up as she caught onto the back end of a flying aircraft and began to make her way to the controls, stabbing one of the aliens as she went.

For a brief moment, he stared up at her in awe, a tingly smile spreading on his lip. Only one thing ran through his mind at that moment. _She's as fearless as Peggy._ He didn't have time to think anything else because an explosion went off nearby and he steeled himself for a fight.

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
**Two hours later**

 

"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."

Steve, along with his fellow Avengers scowled down at Loki with malice. Several seconds passed before the trickster realised that he wasn't going to get what he'd asked for. Clint snapped his bow back and yanked Loki up off the floor. Natasha had already informed Fury that they had captured Loki.

The director responded quickly and told them that a team would be joining them at Stark Tower in less than five minutes.

Natasha walked over to the bar, learned over the counter and pulled out a strange-looking mouthpiece and a pair of vibranium handcuffs. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't want to hear another word from this guy."

"I concur," came Thor's booming reply, disdain dripping from his voice.

Natasha moved forward and put the mouth piece on Loki's face. The redhead gave Loki a hard stare and put the handcuffs on him wordlessly. She recalled how she'd interrogated him earlier. Even though she'd manipulated him, got him to overindulge on confidence and made him feel like he had an advantage, those jabs he made about Drakov's daughter, São Paulo and the hospital fire, kept running around in her head.

It hurt to think that Clint told Loki about three of the worst moments of her entire career as the notorious Black Widow before she started working for SHIELD. Three moments in her life that she hated the most, the dirtiest parts of her red ledger that she secretly was afraid could never be wiped out.

Yes, her friend had unfortunately been under mind control, as he was Loki's pawn for a while and she understood that. Natasha was not a petty person and she knew better than to hold that against Clint, but still...when Loki mocked her 'plea' to save Clint by casually mentioning the three biggest atrocities she'd ever committed, it bothered her deeply.

Being an agent for SHIELD and being an Avenger were two decisions that Natasha decided to do willingly. It was part of her promise to herself, to make up for all the evil things she'd done in her life. Still, the question that remained etched on her mind for the longest time now, was could anything she did ever be enough?

As Natasha mused, Clint noticed the vacant expression on her face and joined her by the bar. He put his hand on her shoulder and he said something to her that no one else could hear.

Steve watched them closely and a tiny frown appeared on his face. Were the two of them in a relationship? It wasn't as if he were foolish enough to believe that he had a claim to Natasha. For goodness' sake, he didn't even know the woman! And yet...there was an uncomfortable tug in his stomach that he was inexperienced to feeling.

Tony glanced at the Hulk, then at the floor, where Loki had lain for the past couple of hours. "From the huge battered hole in the ground, Hulk had to be the one to give reindeer games here an ass kicking. Right?"

Hulk just grinned.

"I thought so. It's not every day you get to play with a god and swing him around like a rag doll. Must have been nice." Tony smirked and went to the bar and began to pour himself a drink.

"That must have been a fine sight indeed," mused Thor, a slight smile brightening up his face as well.

"I second the hell outta that." Clint also spoke and he set his bow and arrows on the bar counter, sighing and resting his head in his hands.

Hulk stood a few feet away from Loki, with an angry scowl on his face. The hilarious thing about it was that Loki actually was alarmed, with black his eyebrows raised so high on his forehead. He was truly terrified of making any movements for fear that Hulk would slam him on the ground again.

Suddenly, a storm of SHIELD agents charged into the room, their guns aimed towards Loki. Also, Fury came through the door and looked the Avengers over carefully with his one eye, then turned to Loki. "Get him outta here," he said in a disgusted voice. The agents took Loki and left the room.

Thor stepped forward. "Loki's crimes against the people of earth are vast, but he must come back to Asgard with me and face punishment for what he has done."

There was a brief look of relief on Fury's face, which switched to one of acceptance. "I haven't forgotten. Now that we have Loki and the Tesseract, we'll surrender both to you. We'll just place him in a temporary cell until you're ready go back to Asgard."

"Thank you."

Fury nodded and put his hands on his waist. "Take a rest. You've earned it." Then he exited the room, leaving the team alone again.

There was silence for a few moments, until Tony clapped his hands. "You heard the man, folks! Shawarma time."

Thor looked at Hulk, who had a vaguely hungry look on his face and began to shrink back down to size until he was Bruce again. Once back in his human form, he clutched his torn pants by the waist.

"It's good to see you again, Dr. Banner," Steve said, giving the scientist a nod. "You did good out there."

Bruce's lips quirked into a smile. "All in a day's work. Uh, does anyone have a pair of pants for me to change into?"

Tony was drinking a glass of bourbon and he raised his hand for Bruce's attention. "I have something that'll fit you." He rushed out of the room to go get the clothes for Bruce.

"You are a formidable fighter, Dr. Banner," said Thor, smiling kindly at the scientist.

"Oh, uh...thanks."

"I believe the highlight of our battle on the helicarrier is when you attempted to lift Mjolner."

"I did?" Bruce's voice was a little higher pitched and he chuckled awkwardly. "I don't remember."

"Do not worry. I will tell the tale of your noble feats to my people. You will be known in Asgard as a great warrior and friend of Thor." The blond clasped Bruce's arm with his own.

"I don't know about being a warrior, but thank you." Bruce couldn't help feeling grateful towards the thunder god. He really was one of a kind.

Steve leaned over to Natasha, feeling confused. "What is shawarma, by the way?"

"Meat cooked on a spit. Chicken, lamb, turkey, buffalo, beef, you name it, they cook it. Sometimes, it's mixed together and grilled all day. Levantine style."

"Huh. Sounds...interesting."

Natasha smirked. "Oh, that's right. You're probably used to a cute, little diner and a hamburger with a side of fries and a big glass of coke. Nice and old fashioned right?"

"What's wrong with old fashioned hamburgers?"

"I never said there was anything wrong with old fashioned hamburgers. Hamburgers are great. I like some old fashioned things. This place is pretty good, though. I think you'd like it."

"Well, if you think so..."

"Trust me. Clint and I eat there all the time."

"Yep. We do," the archer chimed in.

"It's not like our food, but it's better in a way. You'll see. When you eat shawarma for the first time, you'll never be able to go back to regular hamburgers again."

Steve laughed and wiped the sweat from his brow. "I don't know. I'm pretty attached to hamburger meat."

"Not for long, you won't be."

"That's what you think."

"More like that's what I know."

"You just have to have the last word in, don't you, Agent Romanoff?"

"No, I just like to sass my elders," came Natasha's snarky retort as she eyed him in a way that was very reminiscent of Bucky.

The old man joke made Steve roll his eyes, but he found that it wasn't so bad to hear from her lips. The easygoing rapport he and the redheaded spy had developed was surprising, since they had only known each other a short time, but it gave Steve confidence for what may come in the future.

 


	3. Partners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Steve meets with Fury about joining SHIELD and accepts the offer, but he has one person in mind to be his partner..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know who it is. *waggles eyebrows*

* * *

 

  

**Three days later**

 

  
Tired. That's what Steve felt at the moment and as well he should be. He and the other Avengers helped clean the damaged areas of New York up for nearly thirty hours. The good thing was, the Stark Relief Foundation was also there, so they weren't by themselves. Steve just considered it a blessing that his body could function with only four hours of sleep. After being in the ice for so long, he didn't like to sleep for too long anymore.

Steve yawned as he sat on a black couch outside Nick Fury's office. He'd been unsurprisingly cryptic about why he wanted to talk to the super soldier, but after everything that happened a couple of days ago, Steve was certain the director was going to ask him to join SHIELD.

Fortunately, had already made his mind up to accept the offer. He wasn't a fool and he knew that, while being at the gym was nice, it did nothing to challenge him. Steve would continue to feel useless if he went back to that life, now. Not only that, but he also had personal reasons for joining SHIELD. Being an Avenger, though...it was _exhilarating_.

Of course, saving New York and the world at large wasn't easy, but it still hadn't been hard for him to get back into the mode of being a leader and coming up with a strategic plan to stop the Chit'auri. The Avengers were a fledging group, but they had promise and potential. One of the members in particular.

Natasha Romanoff. Steve hardly knew anything about the redhead, only that she worked for SHIELD and she really enjoyed shawarma - when they had gone to the restaurant to eat after the battle, she'd eaten her food with relish and licked her fingers clean. If she hadn't been yawning periodically and drowsily blinking on and off, you never would've suspected that she was tired.

Steve recalled the first moment they met, when she first approached him in the gym and picked up that punching bag with such ease. He'd felt intensely intrigued by her offer to save the world.

As far as recruitments go, Natasha had done her job exceedingly well. Steve read each of the files she gave him and within twenty-four hours, he called her to let her know that he was in. Helping keep America safe was one thing, but the world was a bigger scale. The thought of being part of a group in a line of defense against otherworldly threats and domestic ones was pretty scary.

Yet, it was to protect mankind and Steve had joined the Army all those years ago to keep people safe from bullies. In his eyes, anyone who tried to attack America or earth, for that matter, were bullies and they needed to be defeated by someone who could stand up to them. The Avengers were possibly the one thing that could make Steve feel like he was doing some good in the world.

The entire team took orders very well and seemed to accept his leadership with ease. Even Stark, which was a surprise. The mustachioed billionaire had a history of being reckless, arrogant and cocky, but when it was time to fight the Chit'auri, he did his job well and actually made a sacrifice play.

Steve didn't really know the man, but he was grateful for his presence on the Avengers that day and was glad that he hadn't died. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what the hell Howard could have done or didn't do to make his son turn out to be so difficult.

He'd have to ask Peggy later, when the time came for him to visit her. She was much older now and her beautiful brown hair had turned grey and white, but there was still that familiar bit of fiery spirit behind those eyes of hers. Steve remembered how happy he'd been when he discovered that Peggy was alive.

It was one of the best gifts he could have asked for. It was heartbreaking for him to see how much time had passed before he woke up. After all, he'd lost Bucky and for a moment, he thought he lost Peggy, too. Thank God she was still alive. 

"Captain?"

Steve looked up and saw a petite brunette stood in front of him. "Yes?"

"You can go in now."

"Thank you." He stood up from the black couch he'd been sitting on and walked into the room.

Fury turned around as Steve entered and they shook hands. "Captain."

"Director. Thank you for taking time to see me."

"Well, you helped save the world not too long ago. I figured it was the least I could do." The older man gestured to the chair behind Steve and the soldier sat down. "Have you thought about joining SHIELD?"

"Yes, sir. I have."

"And? We could use a man like you in the field."

"I had a feeling you'd say that, sir, but you don't have to convince me. I'm already on board."

"That's a good decision."

"I just have one request. I figure you'll probably team me up with one of your agents, someone who's been with SHIELD for a while so I'll have an easier time integrating."

The bald man nodded. "Of course, and if you want, you can choose from our personnel files and see which agent would work best with you."

"About that...I actually have the perfect partner in mind."

Nick grinned, as if he already knew what Steve was going to say.

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
"The Director will see you now."

Natasha nodded at the secretary and stood, making her way to Fury's office. She figured that he had another mission for her and if that were the case, she was would be very grateful. When Fury's assistant called her, she'd been in the middle of answering questions to the newest crop of SHIELD agents. Talk about a bore.

Even a mission that required intensive paperwork was more preferable to that.

As the redhead walked into the room, she raised an eyebrow ever so slightly when she saw that Captain Amer-no, _Steve_. He asked her to call him Steve, not his designation. He may be a soldier, but he's a man also. When Steve's eyes locked into hers, Natasha's lips quirked upwards for a fraction of a second and she decided to bridge the gap between professional and personal. "Rogers."

"Romanoff," he replied with a nod.

Perhaps she was imagining it, but Natasha felt like there was a lot going on behind those eyes of his. Could that be a hint of...mischief in Steve's baby blues? Just what was going on here, anyway? Turning to Fury, she said, "You called? I'm guessing that you have another mission for me?"

The older man shook his head. "Not this time. I called you here to inform you that Steve Rogers is going to be your new partner."

One blink. Two blinks. Three blinks. "Sir?"

"Captain Rogers has agreed to be an agent for SHIELD in conjunction to his status as an Avenger. He had a choice of every experienced and capable agent to be his partner, but he chose you. Said the two of you worked well together at the battle of New York."

"...we did, sir." Natasha was a little taken aback and she couldn't resist glancing at Steve in surprise.

"Good. So unless you have any objections..."

The redhead shook her head. "None that I know of, Director. I would be honoured to work with Captain Rogers."

"I'm glad to hear that, Agent Romanoff and I believe that the two of you will make the most of a fruitful partnership." Fury looked at Steve. "If you don't mind, Captain, I have something to discuss with Agent Romanoff in private."

Understanding that he was being dismissed, the super soldier nodded and inclined his head towards Natasha. Then he turned on his heels and left the room.

Once the door was closed, Natasha relaxed her posture and crossed her arms against her chest. "Did he _really_ request me for his partner or did you suggest it to him?"

Fury kept his facial expression neutral as he always did and chuckled. "You're one of my best agents, but I wasn't going to play favourites and pull you out of the bunch. Yes, he did. Damn near started singing praises about how well you performed in New York."

A warm rush of pleasure ran through Natasha at that and her lips twitched, a tiny smile appearing on her face. So she'd impressed him, had she? The idea that she made an impression on Captain America just put a little brightness on her day. "What a surprise," she murmured, careful not to display any emotion in her words.

"I think this could also be a good thing for him. From what I've seen, Captain Rogers doesn't have a solid grasp of the 21st century."

The smile on Natasha's face slipped away and turned into a frown. "Wait a minute. You want me to babysit him?"

"I prefer to call it century adjustment."

Natasha sighed.

"Look, the man has been told about what he's missed being frozen, but I can tell that he's still like a fish out of water. Steve Rogers may be Captain America, but there's a man underneath that uniform, Romanoff. He's _alone_. Everyone he ever knew is dead or on their way there. Right now, he needs someone he's close to who will help him clear out the cobwebs and introduce him to the modern world."

When he put it like that, Natasha felt certain that there was no way she could refuse. After all, she was once in a similar place, herself. If Clint hadn't chosen to bring her in, she'd be dead right now. The archer was one of three people at SHIELD who chose to have faith in her and that changed her life for the better.

Before then, she had been alone, with no one who cared about her or wanted good things for her. It was hard being alone. Natasha had gotten so used to it that she didn't mind it so much. Even now, she normally was sent on missions by herself, not because she wanted to, but because most of the agents at SHIELD didn't like her or didn't trust her.

That was fine, of course. Until now, that had always been her cross to bear. Natasha was a brilliant agent who did her work exceedingly well and if she never had a partner, it was fine. For six years, she and Clint were paired together, so he could keep an eye on her and help on with her transition. It was good for Natasha and she began to feel as if she were doing some good for once.

Maybe this was her chance to do something good for someone other than herself. Deep down, she knew that Fury was right. She was just unprepared for the reality of having to put the idea into practice. "Alright. If it'll help him, then I guess I can't really say no, can I?"

Fury smiled. "Captain Rogers has been assigned an apartment nor far from here." He handed her a sheet of paper and she took it. "I believe that you have an apartment nearby?"

Natasha's eyes skimmed the page in her hand and nodded. "Yes. Less than five minutes away."

"Good. Since you'll be close, you won't have to worry about travelling a long distance to his building." Fury paused for a moment. "Natasha."

She looked up at his eye.

"I can think of no one better suited for this job."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence, sir." Now that she had a new assignment, she'd have to come up with a plan for how she was going to help Steve adjust to the 21st century. "May I be excused?"

"Of course. That'll be all."

Natasha made her way out of the office and her lips curled upwards into a smirk when she saw Steve waiting outside. "You didn't have to stick around for me, you know."

The blond smiled and pushed himself odd the wall, keeping up with her pace. "I know, but I thought that maybe you'd like to get something to eat."

"As in, a _date_? Don't you think that's a little fast? We hardly know each other."

Steve's cheeks turned a bit pink and Natasha bit her lip, feeling a little naughty for teasing him, but she just couldn't help it.

"Oh, um...I didn't mean to overstep any bounds-"

Natasha waved her hand to dismiss Steve's assumption. "Relax, Rogers. I was just playing with you. Actually, I was thinking about getting something to eat when Fury called me to his office. You want to join me? I know a great diner just a few blocks from here."

The blond's face brightened at that and he smiled. "Sure."

"Great. Now, I have to warn you, the food is probably not as good as what you've eaten at Willie's in Brooklyn, but it's pretty palatable."

"How'd you know I ate there?" Asked Steve, his eyes wide from shock.

"Coulson used to tell me all of these random facts about you when he found out that SHIELD got you out of the ice. I have a heavy repository of knowledge on you, thanks to him."

"Sounds like you probably had more than your fair share of things about me."

"No, it actually wasn't too bad. Before he told me all of those little facts and things, I read your SSR and Army files. You were impressive, still are. I have to admit, I don't usually feel a lot of admiration towards many people in this world, but you definitely have it from me."

Now Steve really blushed and he smiled, looking away. He was so cute, but Natasha decided to keep that to herself. "Ha...thank you."

The redhead merely nodded and eyed him as they walked out of the Triskelion together. She couldn't help wondering what it would be like to get to know him better as they became partners. Maybe she'd even get him to blush again. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the dialogue wasn't stale in this chapter. I did my best to keep it engaging. This is always the part I hate about writing multi chaptered fics. You have to write fillers every once in a while before you get to the meat of the story. Thankfully, I finished this today. All I have is one more chapter and then, I'll be moving on to the next part of this series.


	4. An Unlikely Duo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Steve and Natasha have a 'kinda-sorta' date and afterwards, Natasha shows Steve to his new apartment._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this is the best chapter out of the whole story so far. I did my best to keep Steve and Nat in character and not to stray too far from canon, but there are obviously notable differences between my version of them and their MCU counterparts - I might have made them too OOC in this chapter and if it feels off because of that, I am so sorry! Honestly, though, I'm super jealous of Nat in this chapter and they haven't even kissed yet!

* * *

 

  
Natasha dipped a French fry into her milkshake and moaned after she put it in her mouth. She wasn't in the habit of eating junk food like this, but every now and then, it was nice to have. Of course, she'd need to work out in the gym for three hours to burn the carbs off, but that was no big deal. She was used to a rigorous training regimen.

  
Her eyes took in the super soldier who sat across the booth from her. Steve was in the middle of chewing a double steak burger and from his facial expression, she could tell that he was very pleased with it. After swallowing, he said, "Mm, okay. This is one of the best steak burgers I've ever eaten in my life."

  
"I _told_ you this place was good."

  
"Yeah. You weren't lying." Steve furrowed his brow thoughtfully. "Is that something you find yourself having to do a lot?"

  
"What do you mean?"

  
"Lie. I mean, it makes sense that you'd have to on certain missions because being a spy entails a lot of espionage and undercover work."

  
Natasha cleared her throat and nodded, looking down at her plate as she dipped another fry into her milkshake. Steve was just curious about who she was and obviously wanted to know things about her. His question wasn't directed as a rude comment about her character; all he wanted was to see what kind of woman she was. Nothing wrong with that.

  
And yet, the clenching of her stomach and the speedy pound of her heartbeat made Natasha worry that maybe she should change the subject very soon. "Well, that's true. When the mission calls for an infiltration and extraction, many times, I need to have a cover ready to use as soon as possible. It's not a big deal. I'm used to it."

  
"Of course. I read your file and I couldn't help being impressed by your record. You're perfect." Steve gave her a kind smile that made her stomach stop clenching in favour of giving her a dose of butterflies.

  
What the hell? She wasn't a silly, love-struck teenager, so why was her body reacting this way?

  
Steve's eyes grew wide and he laughed awkwardly. "Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that to come out like I was hitting on you. I just meant that you're a great agent, but all the reading in the world couldn't have prepared me for fighting alongside you. I've never met a woman more bold in battle."

  
The admiration was evident in Steve's voice and Natasha felt herself warm the tiniest bit at his praise. How could she not? This was _Captain America_ , after all. He didn't bullshit people to make them feel good about themselves. If he said something, it always had a purpose.

  
"Bold, huh? Now, that's a word I've never heard used positively when it comes to me. Sounds...nice."

  
"Good, because it was meant as a compliment." Steve gave her a grin which was full of that good ole' American boy charm Natasha suspected that he had.

  
"It's a hell of a lot better than rumors," she murmured to herself.

  
Steve raised his eyebrow and looked at her curiously. "Rumors? What do you mean by that?"

  
Whoops. Why did she say that? Of course he'd have heard her. His hearing was likely enhanced, too. "Oh, you don't get around a place like SHIELD with the code name 'Black Widow' and **not** have someone thinking bad things about you." She sipped her milkshake and sighed, looking out the diner window.

  
He had a little knowledge of what she was talking about. Natasha had been a part of the KGB and their secret program called the Red Room as one of their more deadly spy-assassins for several years until SHIELD found her. The file didn't go into a lot of detail as much of it was classified and that led Steve to believe Natasha must have a very dark past to have sealed records at her own job.

  
Not that he was going to hold it against her. He made mistakes in his life, too and if there was one thing his ma taught him, it was not to judge another person when you've got your own dirt to sift through. Instead of asking her more - he already had a feeling that she'd just switch to a different topic - Steve diverted to something less personal.

  
"Living in DC is definitely going to take some getting used to. It's not like Brooklyn."

  
Natasha smirked at him. " **No** place is like Brooklyn."

  
The way she said that made Steve curious. "Are you speaking from experience...?"

  
"I am. It was the first mission I ever got. SHIELD sent me to Brooklyn to recover a Russian named Anya Kopalski who'd been kidnapped. She was my handler and she worked for the KGB at the same time that I did. It's a long story. I'll tell you about it some other time."

  
"Alright. So while you were in Brooklyn, it grew on you?"

  
Natasha smiled at Steve and rested her chin on her hands. "In a way, yeah. New York is okay, but Brooklyn is just..."

  
"Special."

  
"Yeah, it has a charm all its own. After I finished my mission, I played hooky and stayed in Brooklyn for three days and took in some of the sights. I had a blast doing it, too. Of course, Fury was pissed when he realised that I'd done, but I think he knew I needed it because he didn't jump all over me about it when I came back."

  
For a second, Natasha was about to tell Steve that she'd gone to some of his favourite haunts, but chose to keep mum about that little detail of her time in Brooklyn to herself. Yes, it was true that she liked Steve and he was a great man, but for someone like her, the only thing that would work is friendship. Confiding that in him would be like saying she had an interest in him that was more than professional.

  
"It was nice to get away from the Triskelion at the time."

  
Steve frowned at that and pushed his plate to the side. "Were you not assimilating well?"

  
How did he guess that so easily? "Not after I first joined SHIELD, and wasn't a surprise to me. I was not an easy person to get along with back then."

  
"And now?"

  
"I've gotten better as time passed."

  
"But I have the feeling that you don't just go out on dates with every new agent." Steve's boldness and assertive traits shone in that sentence.

  
Natasha laughed and leaned back in her chair, holding her milkshake in her hands. "There's a difference. The other agents are agents, but **you** are Captain America. I'm not talking down about anyone, but you're kind of in a different league than everyone else at SHIELD. You're a legend."

  
Steve coughed and drank down the rest of his water. "A legend. I don't think I'll ever get used to hearing that."

  
"You'll have to. And you know, plenty of the female agents have been giving you a side eye since you've come to SHIELD."

  
The blond ducked his head, his cheeks darkening with a light red flush. "Oh...I'm sure they're just a little star struck, is all."

  
"That may be, but for some women, a guy like you is a rarity. They can't help but feel drawn to you."

  
"Oh, like you?"

  
Natasha grinned and set her empty milkshake glass on the table and crossed her arms, leaning forward. "I'm an exception. After all, _you_ were the one who asked me out to lunch."

  
That adorably sheepish look reappeared on Steve's face. "True, but you didn't have to agree."

  
"I had my reasons."

  
"Such as?"

  
She shrugged. "Who am I to say no to a free lunch?"

  
"Now that explains a lot." He grinned back at her and they sat there in silence for a moment.

  
As Natasha looked into his baby blues, she felt warmth spread on her chest and her fingers had little tingles in them. It was ridiculous because no one should be making her feel so strangely. Steve, though, was a different kind of man and she found herself wanting to get to know him more.

  
A first for her, by far.

  
_Friendship, Natalia, friendship. Love is for children. You have nothing to offer him, so keep a safe distance and don't let him get too close to you._

  
It was an easy thing to think this to herself, but not so easy to believe as she sat across from him. Normally, Natasha was great about silences, but this one was proving to be taxing. Why did it seem like Steve was looking right through her to her very soul?

  
This had to stop.

  
"Are you ready to go? I still need to show you your new apartment."

  
"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about that." Steve wiped his fingers on a napkin. "Although I really could go for another steak burger..."

  
"And I could go for another one of those milkshakes."

  
"But we really should go. I need to settle in to the apartment and arrange everything." He stood and she did as well.

  
"Alright. Uh, since I know the way, just follow me. It's not too far from here."

  
"Yes, ma'am," Steve replied and Natasha bit the inside of her cheek. She was really going to be spoiled if he kept calling her that.

 

* * *

 

Later, after a short drive, they had made it to their destination and Natasha was walking up the stairs to Steve's apartment with him in tow. She gave him details about the place.

  
"This place has an old fashioned charm to it. It's practically like new even though the entire building has forty years of age. The living room has a wood floor and it's made out of cedar, all of the bedrooms are brick walled and we even managed to get a special lighting in the entire apartment so it looks like the style in the forties."

  
Steve stared at her. "When did they have time to-"

  
"Right after you decided to join the Avengers Initiative, Fury sent a team of agents to fix the place up for you. All you have to do is unpack."

  
"Unpack?"

  
"Yeah, while you were familiarising yourself with the Triskelion, we had people go to the hotel you were staying at and bring all of your things here. Your furniture will be arriving tomorrow morning." She unlocked the door and they stepped inside.

  
Natasha turned the lights on and Steve smiled as he took the space in, looking it over with an approving eye. "That's fine by me. _Wow_...this is amazing. I can't believe that they got a place that looks like my old apartment in Brooklyn. It's obviously not the same, but there are a lot of similarities."

  
"Well, the comforts of home are always a good thing. That's something Coulson figured you'd appreciate." Natasha crossed her arms and sighed. It was so hard to believe that he was gone. Coulson was one of the people Natasha actually felt a semblance of comfortable to talking to at times. Sure, they may have not been great friends like she and Clint, but he was still SHIELD and losing one of your own was always difficult.

  
"I do." Steve put his hands on his hips and shook his head. "I hate losing anyone in the line of fire. Seen a lot of that in the war. It happens, but that doesn't make it any less painful."

  
She nodded and ran a hand through her curls. "Yeah..." She knew that she should go now, but she didn't want to. It was pleasant, being with Steve like this and Natasha wasn't eager to give that up. God, she really was beginning to connect with this man, regardless of her inner battle against it.

  
Before she could say anything, he spoke first. "Well, I've taken up enough of your time. I'm pretty sure you'd rather be doing something else than babysitting me." 

  
Natasha thought that was interesting. Almost as if he thought she'd be bored spending time with him, but nothing could be further from the truth. "It's alright. I don't mind helping out the elderly. Who else is going to properly introduce you to this century if not me?"

  
A raised eyebrow went up and Steve chuckled. He had a feeling that there'd be more jokes like those as long as he was around Natasha. "Oh, so you're offering to teach me something?"

  
"Mmm, well, you don't have a cell phone yet - well, besides the burner cell I gave you - and you probably haven't even tried getting on a computer, right?"

  
His face fell a bit. "You mean those small, portable screens that I've seen at SHIELD?"

  
"Yes."

  
"I haven't."

  
Natasha sighed dramatically and shook her head. "Boy, do we have our work cut out for us."

  
"But I'm not a lost cause?"

  
"Not by a long shot. I have faith in you, Rogers." She smirked and tossed him the key. "I'll come by tomorrow morning and help you move your stuff if you want."

  
"You don't have to do that..."

  
"Oh, I know you could move all of your furniture by yourself in, maybe, ten seconds flat, but we might as well kill two birds with one stone. The sooner I help you get your stuff settled, the sooner we can get to helping you catch up with the modern world."

  
"True." Steve set the key on the counter and walked over to her. "When should I expect you?"

  
"Depends. Your furniture is supposed to arrive around ten o'clock, so I could come a little early and make us both some breakfast, if that's alright?"

  
"Sounds like a plan."

  
Natasha nodded. "See you then." Then she turned to walk out of the apartment, but Steve caught her hand. She moved back to face him win a curious look on her face. Normally, people didn't take such liberties with her, touching her so freely and she never liked it either.

  
A curse of being the Black Widow was that nearly everyone around you was too afraid to touch you for fear of what you'd do or just out of disgust because of who you were. Steve, it seemed, had no compunctions about being friendly and even though Natasha felt her spine stiffen ever so slightly at his hand on hers, she breathed evenly and allowed it. He wasn't like the others.

  
"Is something wrong?" She made sure that her voice was light and welcoming, displaying none of the effects that the warmth rising up within her brought from his skin on hers.

  
"I just wanted to say thank you for today. It was...nice to talk to someone and not worry about them fawning over me because I'm Captain America."

  
Natasha's eyes softened and she squeezed his hand a little. "You're still a man first. Without Steve Rogers, there'd be no Captain America. It's the little guy inside of you who makes you a superhero. It has nothing to do with the mantle you wear."

  
"Hm, I've never heard anyone say that before."

  
"There's a first time for everything." She leaned forward and whispered, "And I don't fawn over anyone. Not even Captain America. Good night, Steve."

  
The blond smiled down at her and gave her knuckles a kiss. "Good night, Natasha."

  
She had to resist the urge to run her finger along Steve's cheek or kick the front door closed and shamelessly throw herself at him. _Fuck._ Steve was a charmer and he probably had no idea. How she was going to survive being his partner for the following years of her life, she had no clue.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG. That was the best dialogue I've written for Steve and Nat since _The Artful Black Widow_! I hope you guys liked the conversation as much as I did writing it! :D


	5. A Two-Year Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _After two years of being partners, both Natasha and Steve find themselves considerably "distracted" by each other._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this chapter is really heavy with my headcanon for Steve and Nat, so if they come off as OOC, please forgive me. I'm doing my best to make this story accurate as far as MCU canon goes, but also mix it successfully with my own. Let me know how I'm doing, but be gentle.❤️

* * *

 

  
Natasha pulled up to the sidewalk and rolled down her car window. Steve was talking to a handsome black man who looked like he'd ran a marathon. She smirked at the sight. Maybe Steve had made a new friend. "Hey, fellas. Either one of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil."

  
Steve shook hands with the man, said a few parting words to him before heading to the car. "That's hilarious," he quipped to Natasha and got inside. He clicked his seatbelt and Sam bent down so he was at Natasha's eye level.

  
"How you doin'?" he said, his eyes taking obvious interest in what he saw.

  
"Hey," she replied with mild flirtatiousness in her tone.

  
Steve looked at Sam with a grin. "You can't run everywhere."

  
"No, you can't," the man replied with envy in his voice. Natasha suspected that he thought she and Steve were a couple. Not that it bothered her. She considered it to be a great compliment. Not that it would ever happen, Natasha and Steve becoming a couple didn't seem like such a scary concept.

  
Since they'd become partners and also had gone on various SHIELD missions - occasionally with STRIKE as their back up if they needed them - she'd begun to feel unusually comfortable in his presence.

  
Fighting alongside someone will do that, though, and even more so when you've faced death together. There's an unmistakable bond that grows between two people when they go through an experience like that. 

  
Steve was one of very few people that Natasha respected...although that respect didn't stop her mind from going to the gutter like currently, when she was bombarded with thoughts about how sexy Steve looked in that tight shirt and those track pants.

  
It really was a sin that he was so unaware of his sex appeal. Natasha decided that since her attraction to him was such an issue, it'd be best for her to hide it with humor, probably more so than was necessary.

  
She was used to playing on humor and flirtation as a distraction tactic before she joined SHIELD anyway. It kept people relaxed so even if they didn't know what you were about, they _felt_ thought they knew you because you were always flirtatious. Steve never saw through her façade, but there were many times when it seemed like he knew she was only putting up a front.

  
Natasha'd be lying if she said that she wished she could have been less playful with Steve and more possessive, though. Particularly because of the women at SHIELD who kept staring at him like he was a piece of meat.

  
Many of their coworkers noticed Steve and, damn it all, that irritated Natasha to ridiculous extremes. Steve was not a man who should be ogled by people, but respected. Okay, so Natasha was a bit of a hypocrite in that respect because she had stared at Steve's body plenty of times, but in careful, quick looks that never lingered so long that they could be interpreted as a mild attraction to her partner's appearance.

  
To be honest, she lusted after Steve and he had no clue. It was almost laughable that a virile, handsome man could be so completely unaware of the advances that women sent his way or the attraction they felt when around him. He was like sex on a stick. Well, a beefy stick.

  
It was foolish that she occasionally allowed her mind go to the gutter whenever she looked at Steve, but Natasha dared any straight woman to see him up close in that dark blue stealth suit and maintain pure thoughts.

  
In an effort to divert her attention elsewhere, Natasha spoke up, "Who was that guy?"

  
"Sam Wilson. Said he was a para rescue in the military."

  
"Ah, good. You need more friends. I've been concerned."

  
"I have friends, Natasha."

  
"Yeah, that would be me and...me."

  
"I'm not having this discussion with you right now."

  
"Well, you're a little late for that because we're already talking." She smirked at him and he rolled his eyes. There she was, all fun and games and playfulness because that was easier to do than let him inside. Yet, every day, Natasha found it a bit harder to keep the charade going.

 

"He works at the VA. Something tells me he might be a-"

  
"Kindred spirit?" Natasha interrupted with a smile.

  
Steve gave her that Captain America look. "Do you always have to jump in when I'm still talking?"

  
"Yes. It's so much fun."

  
"Ha, ha. Do we have time to go to my place so I can shower?"

  
" 'Course. I just said "extraction imminent" to make you hustle. You've got a good twenty minutes before we have to go."

  
"Alright." Steve closed his eyes as he leaned against the headrest.

  
She bit her lip as she glanced at him. "You know, Callie from H&R would probably be a good choice for you. She loves making new friends." Her voice was full of teasing.

  
"Just drive, Nat," Steve replied with a sigh.

  

* * *

 

  
When Natasha pulled up to Steve's apartment, he closed the door and bent down to talk to her. "Go ahead without me. I'll take my motorcycle and meet you there."

  
"Okay. See you." She put her car in drive and backed up before taking off, speeding down the road.

  
Steve chuckled and shook his head as he went into his apartment and pulled a few clothes out of the closet before stepping into the shower. It was odd, thinking of Natasha Romanoff as his friend, but she was.

  
At least three times each week, they went out to have lunch together at an old fashioned greasy spoon down the road from where they both lived. It was the same diner they went to after Fury told them they'd be partners. The food was pretty good and they ended up meeting there for lunch as a weekly thing.

  
Natasha would help him with his century adjustment and they'd fill their bellies at the same time. It was a win-win situation. Purely practical.

  
And yeah, they were "working", but that didn't mean Steve hadn't enjoyed it. Natasha wasn't the most open person in the world and she gave off the vibe of a playful flirt to keep him on his toes, but he knew that wasn't the real her.

  
After two years of being her partner, he'd seen plenty of slips and cracks in the perfect illusion that she formed for herself, to believe that was all there was to her personality. Natasha had plenty of depth, as Steve was fortunate to discover by accident a few times, one of these encounters always remained fresh in his memory.

  
_Three months ago, Natasha had come over to Steve's apartment, taking him by surprise when he opened the door and saw that she was drunk. Natasha normally kept herself composed and professional despite her flirtatious behavior, but this time, she had been completely hammered._

_  
"Did anyone ever tell you that you're adorable, Steve? You're so adorable."_

_  
Steve wrenched the vodka bottle from Natasha's hands and set it on the counter before quickly moving back to her side. The last thing she'd need is to pass out on these wood floors. "Ah, not lately, but thanks, I guess."_

_  
"You're welcome. Ooo, did I ever tell you that I love the way your hair looked back in the forties? You had that little flop and it was so cute like a puppy dog with big ears." She giggled and ran her hand over his blond hair, smiling sloppily._

_  
"A puppy, huh? Well, at least you're not calling me a dog as an insult." Steve chuckled, shaking his head as he picked the redhead up, bridal style and carried her into his bedroom._

_  
Natasha gasped, surprised by this action and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Where are you taking me, handsome?" Came her sultry voice as she moved her lips next to his ear. "The bedroom? Mm, is my partner finally going to make this an equal partnership?"_

_  
The heat from her breath and the strong scent of alcohol made Steve feel dizzy. He felt a blush coming on and thanked God that Natasha was drunk now or she'd have noticed it and teased him to no end. "Natasha...you're bombed. I'm putting you to bed."_

_  
"Aw, okay, but only if you sleep with me." A catlike grin spread across her face and Steve bit the inside of his cheek when he saw it._

_  
How was she so tempting and seductive while being drunk? The blond supersoldier deposited Natasha on the bed and tugged the comforter up to her shoulders. "You'll probably snore too loudly for me. I'll sleep on the couch."_

_  
"I'm not gonna dump you out of your own bed, Steve. You're sleeping in here with me and I mean it! Besides, who am I gonna cuddle with if you're not next to me?"_

_  
Steve's eyebrows were so far up his head that they nearly reached his hairline._

_  
"I can't see you, but I know that you're doing that thing with your eyebrows. That doesn't matter because you're still sleeping with me." She tugged his shirt to pull him down to her level. "Please. It's so much easier when I have a warm body next to me than sleeping alone. I hate sleeping alone."_

_  
The teasing and drunken flirtatious behaviour was now gone from her voice, replaced by something Steve understood as...fear, which was unexpected to say the least. He never would have guessed she felt that way because she kept such a tight lid on her feelings, but thanks to the influence of alcohol, she was revealing something that he suspected she'd been dealing with for a long time._

_  
Sincerity was laced in her words and Steve didn't have to question whether she was teasing him or just pretending to be drunk. There was nothing but honesty and Steve was mesmerised by it._

_  
So he joined her on the bed and settled comfortably next to her._

_  
Natasha sighed softly and curled up to his body, lying her head on his chest, revelling in his warmth as she closed her eyes and just breathed._

_  
It was a long time until Steve finally fell asleep, but when he did, it was the best sleep he could remember having in years._

_  
Hours later, Natasha awakened and nearly blushed when she realised that she was lying on top of her partner. Without delay, she pushed herself off Steve's chest and held a hand to her forehead. Was it her imagination or had her heart been beating almost...in perfect time with his? No, it had to be a fluke._

_  
The movement on the bed woke Steve up soon after and she cleared her throat awkwardly. "So, that happened."_

_  
He rubbed his eyes and gave her a sleepy grin. "Yeah. Are you feeling better now?"_

_  
"Well, I've had worse hangovers. It won't last long, but thanks for asking."_

_  
Steve shifted and Natasha looked at his arm muscles. With arms that strong, he could use them to harm a person or help them, but last night, he had held her so tenderly in his embrace that she truly felt safe. Natasha couldn't remember when she ever experienced such a sensation._

_  
Her instincts told her to flee and get away from Steve until she could get a handle on her emotions. "Thank you...for not taking advantage and, uh...you know." There was a look on her face Steve could swear was something akin to sheepishness._

_  
He nodded. "I'd never disrespect you that way."_

_  
"I know, but all the same, thank you." She chuckled and ran a hand through her hair. Why did she drink so much alcohol last night? She should have just gone home, but before she realised what she was doing, she was at Steve's doorway. A tiny, rebellious part of her whispered that if it were up to her, she'd always be in his doorwa-no. That was a very dangerous way to think._

_  
Natasha looked up at those baby blue eyes of Steve's and even though she was feeling the painful effects of an annoying headache, her lips quivered ever so slightly at the warmth she saw in those depths._

_  
He was already attached to her._

_  
And like that, she pushed off the covers and stood to her feet. It was time to get out of here. She glanced at the clock. 8:26 am. "Look, I'd better go. It's Saturday, but I wouldn't be surprised if Fury has a mission for us on his desk by noon."_

_  
"Right. I guess I'll see you later, then." The look on Steve's face could only be disappointment, but Natasha had to ignore that and walk away, for both their sakes. It would do neither of them any good to become any more attached than they already were._

  
Yet, it was a little too late for that because as the days went by, Steve found himself increasingly drawn to Natasha and there was nothing either of them could do to change that.

  
Steve had just finished drying himself off with a towel when he heard a little chime from his phone, alerting him that someone had just sent him a text. He turned the cell on and laughed at the message.

  
_Eleven minutes, Rogers. Get your ass over here. ;)_

 

Quickly, he sent her a text back.

 

_Yes, ma'am. On my way. :3_

 

  
Afterwards, the blond put on a pair of jeans, a blue jacket and a white t shirt, then he took the mobile and slipped it in the back pocket of his jeans, grabbing his shield. Steve always kept his uniform at the Triskelion, but the shield was always at his apartment.

  
As he walked to the front door, Steve's eyes looked at the snow globe on the refurbished baker's rack against the wall. It was the housewarming gift that Natasha had given him the day she helped him move his furniture. However, instead of snow it had tiny leaves in it with a miniature of a man sketching on a pad, sitting on a park bench under a tree.

  
It was a nice gift and very thoughtful, since Natasha really was the only person he'd consider a friend in Washington. Steve found himself shaking the globe more often than he thought he would.

  
Sometimes, he wondered if maybe Natasha was lying to them both about how she really felt for him. After all, Steve knew that she wasn't the kind of woman who brought housewarming gifts to people.

  
Of course, when she gave it to him, she had tried to play it off by saying, "It's just an old thing I found at an antiques store. Since I know you like to paint, I figured that you'd like it, and the man in the globe is old, so that's something you have in common with it."

  
Yeah, right.

  
Steve may have been clueless at times, but he wasn't **that** bad off. For two years, there'd been something going on between he and Natasha. Only this time, he was resolved to do something about it.

 

 


	6. What Does This Mean For Us?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _After their confrontation on the Lumerian Star, Natasha agonizes over losing Steve's faith in her._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not even going to bother with excuses on why this update is late. All I can say is I'm sorry it took so long and please, keep reading.

* * *

 

 

Natasha glanced at Steve. They hadn't gotten the chance to get breakfast together at the diner as they usually did, but that was okay. The job took precedence over their personal lives, even though it was a major pain in the ass sometimes.

The redhead bit her lips and wondered if Steve had anything planned and she decided to probe him for information, but in a blasé kind of way. The last thing she wanted was to make him think that she _cared_. "You doing anything fun tonight?" She asked as she checked her sidearm.

"Well, all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so no. Not really." He gave her a grin and she couldn't resist the tiny chuckle that left her mouth. Every once in a while, Steve's self-deprecating humor would come out and she had a feeling it was his way of playfully combating her old man jokes about him. Sort of like he was beating her to the punch.

Not that she minded at all. Steve had a very healthy and sly sense of humor that most people wouldn't think he had. That was what happened when you didn't know someone. Natasha worked with Steve for a little over two years now and whether she intended for it to happen or not, they had bonded.

And for once, she allowed herself to enjoy the feeling of having a friend. Sure, she always had Clint and he was her best friend, but with Steve, it was different. Natasha was attracted to him, to his old fashioned charm and sweetness. He was probably the most chivalrous man she'd ever meet.

It might have sounded juvenile, but she truly admired him. Steve was like a mirror to her of how good she could be. He gave the tiniest sliver of hope that she wasn't too far gone, that she could redeem herself from her terrible past. She knew that it was a beautiful dream that could never really happen.

If anything confirmed that to her, it was the looks people at SHIELD would make when they saw the two of them together. They thought she was beneath him.

Now, Natasha was used to people making judgement calls about who she was as a person and sometimes, she could even agree with them, but _no one_ was going to make her feel unworthy of his friendship.

Deep down, she knew that friendship was all she deserved from him, that it was all she could get and even if it hurt to think that she'd never be good enough for him, she cherished their relationship as it was. Natasha didn't want to do anything to jeopardize it, which is why the side mission Fury had assigned her was making her feel guilty...

In an effort to push down her conflicting emotions, Natasha said, "You know, if you'd ask out Kristen in statistics, she'd probably say yes."

Steve merely chuckled to himself and walked over to the edge of the quinjet as the back opened up and wind began to whip through the compartment. "That's why I don't ask!"

Not to be deterred, Natasha shouted after him, "Too shy or too scared?"

"Too busy!" Steve yelled back and he half turned to smirk at her. "Besides, you take up all of my free time!"

"All you have to do is say the word and I won't hang out with you anymore. You've been properly educated about the world now. It's not like you need me to be your century adjuster anymore."

"No, but you're good company."

"Aw, Rogers, you're gonna make me blush."

"Take a picture. It's worth a thousand words, right?"

"I never should have taught you cheesy lines."

"You love them!" He shouted, then he jumped out of the aircraft and into the water below.

A breezy smile made its way into Natasha's face and shook her head as she finished setting up her backpack. Never a dull moment with Steve Rogers.

 

* * *

   
Later, when they were on board the Lumerian Star, Natasha teased Steve with suggestions of other women at SHIELD whom he could date, but he just said, "Secure the engine room, then find me a date."

"I'm multitasking," she responded as she hopped over a bar railing and made her way to her destination.

It takes a mere handful of minutes for her to take down the pirates who cross her way - when they woke up, she was sure that they'd feel sorry they ever met her. Once she reached the place she knew she needed to be, she pushed down the twinge of guilt that she felt about doing this side mission behind Steve's back.

Natasha began to upload all of the data from the computer onto the flash drive and leaned forward on the desk in front her, humming patiently. Everything was going perfectly until Steve crashed through the door. There was another man with him who fell beneath him as Steve knocked him out cold. No doubt, someone he just finished fighting.

A rush of panic ran through her, but she clamped down on it in favor of smirking in Steve's direction. "Well, this is awkward," she quipped.

"What are you doing?" He walked over to her, confused.

"Backing up the hard drive. It's a good habit to get into."

"Rumlow needed your help. What the hell are you doing here?" He looked at the screen and it dawned on him. "You're saving SHIELD Intel."

Natasha bit back the urge to make a sarcastic crack after hearing him say "hell". Now was not the time. "Whatever I can get my hands on."

"Our mission is to rescue hostages."

"No, that's _your_ mission and you've done it beautifully." She moved to pass him, but he grabbed ahold of her arm, clearly annoyed by her blasé behavior.

"You just jeopardized this whole operation."

"I think that's overstating things."

Before he could respond, Batroc got up and tossed a grenade at them both before running out of the room. Steve eyed it and knocked it back with his shield. Then he turned to Natasha, took her by the waist and she put an arm around him as he jumped onto two desks and aimed for a small room with a large glass window.

Natasha quickly pulled out her gun and two bullets pierced the glass mere seconds before they crashed through it, shield first and the grenade went off behind them.

They both fell to the ground and scooted to the nearest wall, catching their breath. Steve looked back to see if the coast was clear and it was. He leaned back in his previous position, winded and a little injured. The grimace on his face showed agitation and annoyance that worried Natasha.

To ease the tension from before, she huffed and looked over at him. "Okay. That one was on me."

Steve grumbled, "You're damn right," under his breath and he quickly got up on his feet, leaving the tiny room.

She watched him exit and rolled her eyes up to the ceiling in frustration. **Great.** The last thing she needed was for him not to feel like he could trust her. This was going to harm their relationship, she just knew it.

 

* * *

 

The ride back to Washington was an uneventful one. Thankfully, STRIKE seemed to know that something was off between Steve and Natasha, so all was silent in the quinjet. Once they landed, STRIKE dispersed quickly and Natasha looked over at Steve, hoping that he would let her explain.

He only glanced at her for a moment, shook his head and left the cabin. A heavy sigh expelled from Natasha's mouth. She could tell that not only had she shaken Steve's trust in her, but she also disappointed him, too. That stung more than she expected it to.

Natasha made her way to Fury's office, hating the foreign feeling that surged through her. Guilt was an uncommon emotion for her and she never experienced it on her job. Because of her past, there were some things that she didn't mind doing for Fury if he needed her to.

More than a dozen times over, he ordered her to take care of delicate situations that he only trusted her to handle. It wasn't anything new to her, and yet, here she was, feeling bad about doing what she'd been told to do. It was a strange, foreign feeling and she didn't like it one bit.

Once Natasha reached the level that Fury's office was located on, she went to his secretary's desk and handed her the flash drive. "Let him know that the mission was a success." Then she left as quickly as her legs could walk.

Any minute now, Steve would be stepping off the elevator, demanding an explanation from Fury, and the last thing she wanted was to be caught in the crosshairs. It was embarrassing, how cowardly she was being, but she knew that it would be too hard to be near him again and see him turn stiff and rigid around her.

Damn Steve. Damn him for getting close to her. Damn him for making her want to be better than she was. Damn him for rooting his way into her heart.

Unfortunately, he knew what she was like now, and nothing was going to change the pain she felt in her heart as she saw the look of betrayal in Steve's eyes on the Lumerian Star. There was only one reason that could explain why it crushed her to think that he may never trust her the same way again.

Natasha was in love with Steve.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter was a bit shorter than usual, but I think the angst Natasha was going through makes up for it.


	7. And The Dust Begins To Clear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Steve visits Peggy and comes to terms with his feelings about Natasha._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woof! This chapter was kind of hard for me to write. I feel like I may have jumped into angsty OOC territory with this chapter and I'm kind of on edge about it. Hopefully, I retained believability with Steve's characterisation.

* * *

 

 

After talking with Fury and finding out about Project Insight - a project that he most **emphatically** didn't approve of - Steve needed to get out of SHIELD and go for a drive. He exited Fury's office and briskly made his way through the building, trying to leave as quickly as possible.

Along the way, he passed Natasha's office and backtracked to take a look inside. She wasn't in the room and Steve had no idea if the strange pang he felt in his stomach was relief or regret about that. He turned to keep walking and of course, as fate would have it, he bumped right into her.

"Oh!" A handful of files that Natasha held in her hands fell to the floor and Steve reached out for her, holding her in his arms to steady her.

"You okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Her cheeks were just the tiniest tint of pink and Steve realised that he was holding her in his arms.

The smell of the coconut body wash he knew she was fond of using curled around his nostrils. Subconsciously, he breathed in deeply, immersed in the intoxicating combination of the soap and her own unique feminine scent.

For a brief moment, Steve forgot the disappointment churning in his mind, but the look on her face as brought that emotion back in full force. To lose trust in his partner was one of the worst things he could think of happening between them. Particularly since Steve believed that Natasha was someone who would have his back completely.

It pained him to think of why she'd be fine doing the unpleasant jobs that no one else wanted to do. She'd only told him snippets of her past, but Steve knew that when she'd worked for the KGB, she had done a lot of terrible things. Things she never told anyone, and he understood that, sympathised with her, even. He was so conflicted about everything right now and it was not a good thing.

"Steve?"

Natasha's voice shook him from his reverie. "Yeah?"

A near sheepish expression crossed Natasha's face. "Are you gonna let go of me so I can pick those papers up?" She motioned to the floor.

Oh.

He swallowed, remembering that he held her in his embrace, hands wrapped around her waist like the way a lover would. Damn. Steve dropped his arms and stepped back, giving her some space. "Right. I'll help you." At this, he bent down to get the papers off the ground.

"Thanks," she replied softly before joining him.

In less than a minute, they cleared the floor and Natasha had the papers back in the folders she was carrying. She looked up at him and her facial expression was neutral, but he could see how uncomfortable she felt.

"Well, I'd better..." She pointed to her office.

"Yeah." Steve got out of her way so she could move past him. The pounding of his heart was so loud, he heard it in his ears and he felt helpless as he watched Natasha walk past him to her office and shut the door.

Turning around, he strode through the building, determined not to stay inside for any longer than he had to. There was only one other place, one person whom he could truly relax around and feel some semblance of normalcy with besides Natasha. And that was Peggy.

 

* * *

 

Being at Peggy's was so natural for Steve. Every week, he visited her and they talked about life. Nothing was off limits in their conversations, especially her thoughts on his love life - or lack thereof.

"I have lived a life." Peggy glanced at the old photo of her family that sat on her nightstand and turned her head to smile at Steve. "And now, it's _your_ turn to find someone and start living yours."

"I don't know about that, Peggy. I'm not the same man who came out of the ice. The world is a different place too. Especially the women," he chuckled.

"Steven Grant Rogers, don't you dare try to tell me that you should be alone. The perfect woman is out there somewhere, regardless of how they have changed. You just have to keep your eyes open. For all you know, she could be right in front of you and you're unaware of it."

"Is that the way it was for you and Daniel?"

She smiled again and touched the ring on her finger fondly. "Yes, it was. He was a good man. I loved him dearly...and love him still." Tears pooled in the corner of her eyes and she closed them momentarily. "If you spend the rest of your life doubting yourself, you'll get in the way of your own happiness. That's the last thing I would ever wish for you."

Peggy sat up a little and took Steve's hand in hers. "You are a _great_ man, Steve, and you have so much good to give the world. Not just as a hero, as Captain America, but as a _man_. What you need is someone who can see behind the man to the soul that is inside of you. The way I did."

Steve smiled at that and he covered her hand with his other. "But I don't think there's any woman here who could compare to you, Peg."

"Flatterer," she said with a grin. "Stop trying to be subversive. You know I see through that. I may be old, but I'm not blind."

"Alright, I'll stop. All jokes aside, I honestly can't see myself with anyone. Not now, anyway."

"I'm sure there are many lovely girls who work at SHIELD. Perhaps you should give one of them a chance and see where it goes from there."

When she said that it made him think of Natasha and how she was always trying to set him up with some agent or another. "You sound like Nat."

"Ah, that lovely redhaired partner of yours?"

Steve looked surprised. "You know about her?"

"Darling, I may not be the head of SHIELD anymore, but I still have few eyes and ears at the Triskelion. And after I found out that you were alive, I made it my business to know how you were getting on."

"I should have figured you'd be watching over me."

"It seems I won't have to any longer." There was an unmistakable twinkle in Peggy's eyes that Steve recognised right away.

"We're not like that, Peggy. Nat and I are just partners."

"Well, things can change."

"Not with us."

"And why not?"

"I don't know if I can trust her."

"Did she do something wrong?"

Now he really wished he hadn't brought it up. "Not exactly wrong. She was following Fury's orders for a side mission, but it just doesn't sit well with me."

"Don't be so harsh on her, Steve. Believe me, Nicholas Fury would not ask her to do something for any fickle reason. Whatever it was, it had to have been important."

"I'll give you that, but it still jeopardised our primary mission."

Peggy chuckled softly and patted Steve's hand. "You have always been so dramatic. Has she ever given you a reason not to trust her before now?"

"Well...no."

"Hm, and she always does her job efficiently?"

"Yes."

"Ah. Then perhaps, you should cut the girl some slack."

"Peggy..."

"Now hear me out. She has worked with you for more than two years now and you've never had a reason to distrust her before. What you have to understand is that Natasha Romanoff is a spy, a black widow. The background she has, the place she came from, let's just say that it's a miracle she turned her life around and started working for SHIELD."

"So you're saying that I should thank my lucky stars because it could be worse?"

Peggy smiled again. "You're as sharp as a tack."

 

* * *

  

Before Steve headed home, he decided to drop by the center and see Sam Wilson. As he told Natasha earlier, he didn't have many friends. It was about time he changed that.

During their conversation, Steve could see himself counting Sam as a friend in due time. The man was friendly and clearly understood where Steve was coming from about adjusting to regular life after being in the military. They had commonalities that made Steve feel at ease around the man.

Sam asked Steve what made him happy. For a split second, Steve wasn't sure if there was anything that made him feel like that. Seeing Peggy made him happy. After all, she was his first love and even though things were different now, at least he hadn't lost her like he had lost Bucky.

Surprisingly, his thoughts turned to Natasha. Her smile, the playful banter between them when she'd make old man jokes, the way her face lit up when he brought her those little packs of jello she liked, how she'd come by his apartment and sleep over so he wouldn't have to be alone. Natasha had slowly taken up a big space in Steve's heart and mind, and his disappointment in her didn't change how he felt around her.

_Natasha Romanoff made him happy._

That revelation shook him, made him feel excited with delight and also terrified him. It made so much sense. Natasha was the only woman - besides Peggy - who Steve really interacted with and he spent more time with her than anyone.

He chuckled to himself. If someone had told him two years ago that the closest thing he'd have to a best friend would be the lovely redheaded agent who came to the gym to recruit him for SHIELD, Steve wouldn't have believed it. What a difference a couple of years could make.

Steve looked at the clock on his phone. It was only 1:19. He hadn't eaten yet and she probably had lunch already, but it was worth a try...

Moments later, her phone was ringing and he waited patiently for her to answer. On the fifth ring, she picked up. "Hello?"

He hated hearing the timidity in her voice. "Natasha."

"Yeah?"

"Have you...had lunch yet?"

"Ah, no. I've been a little busy. Why?"

Steve cleared his throat and hated the nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Do you want to come over? I could order a pizza, put on a movie and you could stay over if you want."

"Steve, I don't think-"

"Nat, please. I want to correct things." If he sounded a touch desperate, so be it.

Silence was on the other end of the phone, and he began to think that she may have just hung up on him, but she sighed and he felt relief rush through him. "Alright. I'll be there in twenty."

Once she hung up, Steve let out a breath of air he didn't know that he'd been holding. If she would give him an inch, he'd gladly take it and hope for more. 

 


	8. Wishing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Steve and Natasha bury the hatchet._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was super careful with this chapter because even though Steve and Nat are closer in this fic than their MCU counterparts, they still have to develop their relationship more before they're a couple. That didn't stop me from tossing a lot of fluff and angsty moments in this chapter to appease my Romanogers cravings.

* * *

 

 

To say that Natasha had been surprised when she received Steve's call was an understatement. She figured that he wouldn't talk to her for a couple of days and walk on eggshells around her for a few more, then they'd finally talk about their trust issues or something.

Clearly, Steve deserved more credit than she originally gave him.

Inviting her over for pizza and a movie must have been hard after the way he felt, but maybe something changed his mind and ne decided to have her come over as a way of making a peace offering. If that was the case, Natasha would take it with relish. She hated not speaking to Steve. It was almost - _almost_ \- physically painful for her to have things strained between them.

Natasha would never say this out loud or to anyone else, but she had grown a bit too attached to Steve Rogers. She found herself thinking of him often and being around him had become something she enjoyed very much. It was all Fury's fault, really.

When he assigned her to help Steve adjust to the twenty-first century over two years ago, she had no idea that she'd end up loving the man's company. There was just something so good about him, so magnetic. His patriotism, loyalty and honesty inspired her and made her want to be a better person.

Steve was like a compass for Natasha if she felt like she might lose her way, and that kind of thing never happened to her.

There was only one reason why he affected her so much. As she thought to herself earlier before, she had begun to fall for Steve and was likely in danger of never getting out of it either. Sometimes, she tried to pull away, like that day she slept over at his apartment and had awakened in his arms.

Being in Steve's warm embrace had scared her back then because she knew how dangerous it would be for her to fall for this man. He was so good, pure and gentle and he treated her with respect and dignity, which she was unused to getting from men.

But Steve was such a high caliber of manhood and so wonderful that she didn't think she would ever qualify to be the right woman for him. She wouldn't dare think she'd have the right to his heart.

But she hoped, oh, how she hoped.

Natasha breathed deeply as she drove into a parking space across from Steve's apartment. In a few minutes, she was inside the building and making her way up the stairs to his door. On the way, another door opened and a blonde woman stepped out.

She was a familiar face to Natasha, but not because she had seen her many times as she came to Steve's apartment, rather because the other woman was an agent at SHIELD. Of course, Steve didn't know that and it wasn't Natasha's place to tell him. 

As it is, she was uncomfortable with the idea that she hadn't been the one assigned to watch Steve. After all, he actually knew her and they formed a relationsh-friendship over the past two years. That didn't mean she was angry about the whole situation, just annoyed.

She nodded to the blonde on her right. "Sharon."

"Natasha. Visiting Captain Rogers again?" Sharon's voice dipped in something akin to admiration when she mentioned Steve and Natasha's lips spread out in a thin line. Great. Was the woman getting a crush on him?

"Mmhm." Natasha took in Sharon's light blue business suit and white blouse. "Heading to work?"

"Yeah. I'll see you around." Sharon waved at her before turning and heading down the stairs.

Natasha sighed and strode forward, stopping in front of Steve's door. She knocked promptly and it didn't take five seconds before it opened and her handsome partner was standing in front of her.

"Nat," he said in a breathless voice, as if he'd been waiting for her with anticipation.

She ignored the chill that ran down her spine and smirked. "You said you'd order pizza and I'm never one to turn down a free meal." She stepped through the door, brushing by his arm. "Is the pizza here already or do we have to wait?"

Steve closed the door and locked it, then facing her again with a sheepish expression on his face. "I ordered it right after I called you, so it'll be here in ten minutes, I think."

"Mmm, good. I am starving."

He came a little closer, tentatively. "Me too."

Natasha cocked her head at him, watching the way he moved towards her. It was almost as if he were nervous to get close to her. "You don't have to shy away from me, Steve. I know we had a misunderstanding last night, but walking around eggshells is unnecessary. I won't bite."

At this, Steve's eyes sparkled with determination. Before she knew what he was doing, he tugged her into his arms. Natasha was taken off guard and had to grab ahold of him or risk losing her balance. She inadvertently buried her face in Steve's shirt, but didn't pull away. Instead, she just breathed in his scent.

It was strange, being in his arms like this. Normally, they didn't hug. There were always friendly handshakes, caring pats on the back and playful shoulder nudges, but never hugs. It was an alien sensation to Natasha and she realised how she was cut off from intimate physical affection.

"I'm sorry."

The apology made Natasha's heart soften even more than the hug he pulled her into. "It's okay."

"No, it's not. I blew things out of proportion and blamed you for doing your job. I may not like it, but I understand where you're coming from and I was wrong to judge you like that." Steve pulled back and looked at her face. 

Natasha gave him a half smile and nodded. "I already forgave you, Steve."

"I don't deserve it."

"You do. Yes, you were kind of an ass, but I know why my side mission bothered you so much." She pulled back so their eyes would meet again. "You like to know that you can implicitly trust your team to do their job and I was doing something behind your back. For all you knew, I could have been hurt or worse."

Natasha was quite familiar with Steve's military background, so she understood why it bothered him to not know where she was. She knew that he cared about her, but he also hated leaving any members of his team behind. Add those two things together and it made perfect sense why he'd been so upset with her.

"You were worried about me. I get it. And for the record, I didn't like keeping it from you either."

"Really?" He looked absolutely flabbergasted at her admission. Usually Natasha was not this forthcoming. "I didn't expect you to understand how I felt...not that I'm saying that excuses my behaviour, but well, I overreacted."

"Yeah, well. You overreacted and I kept something from you. So let's agree to meet each other halfway from now on and be up front with each other."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying that you'll tell me when Fury gives you a mission to do on the side when we're assigned to do a completely different one?"

"Well, I can't exactly tell you, but I can imply or infer that when we have missions to do together, I might need to go off and take care of another issue."

"Good idea. Signals?"

"Oh, I think a wink and a nod will do just fine, or, better yet, a cough and a pointed look."

"You are _really_ good with pointed looks."

"I am." Natasha allowed her fingers to loosen from his shirt. She hadn't even realised that she'd been holding onto him with such a tight grip. Then, for some reason, Sharon Carter's face came into her mind and the redhead scowled.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, but...you know that blond woman who lives down the hall from you?"

"Kate? What about her?"

Natasha breathed deeply. What the hell. He'd find out soon enough, right? "She's a SHIELD agent. Fury assigned her to look out for you."

"What?"

"So if you're ever in danger, she can come by to offer her assistance." The words sounded idiotic as they left her mouth and she cringed inwardly after saying them.

Steve stood there in front of her with a disbelieving expression on his face. It took him a while, but when he finally was able to get words out, he said, "Fury got me a babysitter?"

"....Yeah."

"Wow. Even my privacy isn't sacred."

"Hey, I wouldn't like it either if I were in your shoes, but when you work for SHIELD and you're an-"

"Don't say national icon."

Natasha put her hands on her hips and leaned against the wall. "When you are an national  _icon_ \- Steve groaned - and you work for SHIELD, every precaution must be taken. You know that."

"Oh, and you're okay with Fury putting a watchdog on my tail?" He gave her a look.

"No, but only because he didn't choose me to do it. You and I know each other. We've worked together for over two years, we're friends and I even sleep over at your apartment sometimes." She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "I just don't get why he wouldn't have given me this assignment instead."

Steve kept his facial expression nuetral as he said, "Maybe he thinks you've gotten too close to me."

"That's ridiculous, though. He knows I don't..." Natasha's voice trailed off and she shook her head. Better not to go there. "Well, it doesn't matter because Sharon's your watchdog and not me, but at least you know now."

The annoyed expression on Steve's face vanished quickly and he nodded, knowing it would do no good to be angry. After all, she had just told him the truth. "Thank you for telling me, Nat."

"Sure." She stretched her arms above her head and let out a puff of air before taking off her leather jacket and tossing it on a nearby kitchen stool. "What are we watching?"

"Well, I've actually bought a few new movies since the last time we hung out, so I thought we could look at one of them."

"Oh, yeah? Like what?"

Before he could answer, there was a knock at the door. "That's the pizza. The movies are on the bookshelf if you want to check them out."

"Alright." Natasha took off her boots and walked over to said bookshelf and started perusing the stack of films she found. Steve tended to have a mix of modern films and classics, and his taste in movies was pretty good, so she was sure she'd find something good to watch quickly.

 

* * *

 

They watched Born Yesterday and Natasha loved every minute of it. It had been a long time since she'd seen the film and it was a pleasant surprise when she discovered it among Steve's newly purchased movies.

Halfway into the movie when Billie's character was getting smarter and proving her intelligence, Natasha turned to Steve and whispered, "I can't believe you like Born Yesterday."

"What is that so hard to believe?"

"Because it's got Judy Holliday. I thought you couldn't stand her."

"She grew on me," Steve replied.

"Hmm," was the only response Natasha gave him as she laid her head on his shoulder and slid her arm through his. They watched the rest of the movie in a comfortable silence, but Natasha was hyper aware of Steve's hand on her knee, his hip flush against hers, the sound of his breathing as he inhaled and exhaled.

Paying attention to the movie was more of an effort than she'd expected it to be.

When the movie finally ended, Steve took the disc out of the dvd player while Natasha went to the kitchen, threw away their empty paper plates and rinsed the cups they drank out of under the faucet. She looked up at him and he smiled at her, holding up a few other movie cases.

"Don't you want to stay a little longer? We could watch another movie."

Natasha parted her lips and closed them again. Why was he doing this to her? Did he know what he did to her? How he made her feel? Hearing him speak to her in that gentle voice was too much.

_You could never deserve him, Natalia. Just get out of there while you still can!_

She turned her head break fly to wipe away a stray tear before standing and looking at Steve. "I'd like to, but I can't. I have to get home and take care of some stuff."

"Oh." There was a tinge of disappointment in his voice that Natasha didn't miss. "So I guess I'll see you bright and early tomorrow?"

"You know it." Natasha donned her jacket, put her shoes back on and made her way to the front door with Steve trailing behind.

The redhead turned the knob, but stopped and looked back at him. "You know, I think I outstared Fury when I argued with him about keeping my side mission from you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, we were in his office for a good half hour while I tried to convince him to let me tell you what he wanted me to do. Of course, he wasn't hearing it, but that didn't stop me from saging my piece and I **never** do that. I think you're rubbing off on me, Rogers."

With that said, Natasha pulled the door open and started to move forward, but Steve grasped her arm. Wordlessly, he pulled her into another hug.

An audible sigh left Natasha's mouth as she briefly allowed herself to revel in the sensation of being in her partner's embrace again. If she wasn't careful, she could really end up getting used to this. From the way Steve relaxed with her nestled in his arms, maybe he could too. If it had been a long time since she'd been touched in an intimate and caring way, how long had it been for him?

She'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy it because being in Steve's embrace just felt right. Of course, Natasha could protect herself very well, but that firm wall of his chest was like a a shelter. The affection she felt just from being hugged by Steve made Natasha want more of it.

_Maybe this is what being married feels like._

Oh. Why did she go there? That was dangerous territory and entertaining those thoughts would do her no good. A woman like her would always be alone.

Natasha squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and stepped back. She gathered her jacket and shoes, throwing a forced smile at Steve over her shoulder. "I'll see you later."

And then, she went again, always running from him.

 


	9. These Are The Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Tragedy strikes when Natasha loses a mentor, and she later realised that there is more than meets the eye regarding SHIELD and the information she retrieved for Fury._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was pretty boring to me because there's hardly any dialogue or Romanogers scenes, but it's just a prelude. I promise that the next chapter I post will be really, really good and I'm going to increase the sexual tension in this part of the series, so prepare yourselves. ;)

* * *

 

 

  
All it took was one text and in less than a minute, Natasha was in her car and driving as quickly as she could to the SHIELD hospital. She tried her best to control her emotions, but found that they were harder to hold on to than she thought.

_Found Fury in my apartment. He's been shot. Come to the hospital._

Those were words she never thought she'd read in a text. It seemed so informal, so cold. Not that she was angry with Steve for wording it in such a way. It was like him to be professional when it came to their work and Fury was their boss, so it was relative in that case.

For Natasha, it was far more than relative.

Fury had been her mentor in an almost fatherlike capacity for several years now. Sure, he was her boss as well and Natasha wasn't the kind of person to allow herself a lot of close relationships. Indeed, she and Fury had an odd one. It was a mutual understanding they had with each other. When Natasha first came to SHIELD, Nick was one of few people she actually trusted.

She was his best agent, his number one. He trusted her with missions that he couldn't give to other people and it made her feel appreciated that her presence in SHIELD had value and use.

However, it seemed like the Lumerian Star mission he'd given her was involved with something sinister. Natasha already figured out that whatever the information he got her to download must have been something important if he couldn't access it. He hired the pirates to attack and hijack the boat because it couldn't be done in a clean way.

The only thing left to do would be to send Steve and the STRIKE team to take care of the pirates and secure the hostages while Natasha went to complete her side mission. It was a good plan, really. The repercussions had unflrtunately come back to bite them in the ass.

As she drove to the hospital, Natasha's mind delved into the reasons why Fury would go to Steve's apartment at all. Obviously, someone had to have followed him if were injured. It just didn't make any sense. A whisper in the back of Natasha's mind said maybe this was connected to the flash drive full of SHIELD intel that she retrieved for him.

"It probably is. I can't remember the last time Fury ever got injured and this can't be a coincidence." Natasha chewed her lip. If there was ever a worse time for her to be having issues concerning her relationship with Steve, it was now. Everything was a mess.

Natasha took in a deep breath as she thought to herself. Naturally, Steve would be at the hospital, so would Maria. Besides Natasha, they were the two other people who had worked with Fury more than the rest of their coworkers. They wouldn't broadcast what happened to him unless it was absolutely necessary...and the only reason to do that is if he died.

_Don't even think about it, Nick._

The mantra played out in her head silently as she finally made it to the hospital and rushed through the front doors. A SHIELD nurse directed Natasha to one of the closed off rooms that had a big mirror so you could see through to the operating area. Steve and Maria were already there, witnessing the doctors do their best to save their boss' life.

The amount of blood Natasha saw on Nick's body made her gasp. "Is he gonna make it?"

"I don't know," Steve replied solemnly.

"Tell me about the shooter," she said in a near monotone voice. She staved off her emotions with great difficulty because they would do her no good here.

"He's fast. Strong. Had a metal arm."

With that description, a sick feeling grew inside Natasha's stomach.

The redhead's lips parted as she realised, in horror, the person who had done this. "Ballistics?"

Maria responded to Natasha's question as she stood beside her. "Three slugs, no rifling. Completely untraceable."

"Soviet-made."

The other woman turned to her in surprise. "Yeah."

So it was **him**. The Winter Soldier.

Suddenly, there was more activity in the operating room and the medical staff were moving faster, calling out for instruments as they worked on Fury's body.

"Don't do this to me, Nick. Don't do this to me," Natasha whispered, begging him to fight this, to live. They kept using the defibrillators on him but to no avail. The monitor displaying Nick's life signs fell flat, followed by the steady sound informing them that he had just died.

Natasha continued to stand there, shaken that Nick had passed away in front of her. Steve and Maria eventually left the room, leaving her by herself to stare at the lifeless body of her mentor through the glass window.

 

* * *

 

The redhead had no idea how long she sat in the waiting room. She knew that hours had passed since she'd seen Fury die before her eyes because at some point, she fell asleep. Steve and Maria had been right there with her the entire time, but they said nothing. What was there to say after something like this happened?

Finally, the doctors brought Nick's body to a quiet room in the back and Natasha automatically stood up shakily to look at him. He was so lifeless and already a paler shade of the dark brown shade she was used to seeing on his skin. It took every ounce of strength in her not to start crying, but a few tears slid down her cheeks in rebellion.

Being emotional wouldn't help anything and she hated that she was doing the typical female thing, crying because she was upset, but here she was, doing it anyway. Losing Nick was something Natasha never thought would happen.

How would SHIELD go on without him?

She was aware of Maria's voice in the background, saying that she had to take Fury's body for his inevitable burial.

"Natasha," came a voice behind her and she knew that Steve was going to try and comfort her, but she didn't want to be comforted. She wanted to find out who did this and why. In her mind, she knew it had to be the Winter Soldier, but there was someone behind the scenes, sending him out to do his assassinations.

Gently, her hand to rest on her former superior's head for only a moment. It hurt to think that she'd never see his face again or hear his voice. Nicholas J. Fury was a good man and he deserved a better and more fitting end than what he'd been given.

_Goodbye, Nick._

Blinking away any other tears that threatened to well up in her eyes, Natasha swiftly turned and walked out of the room. She'd been in this hospital for too long. The urge to get out and escape had built up inside of her until she could do nothing else but flee.

Footsteps sounded behind her and suddenly, Natasha remembered what she wanted to ask Steve when she first came here. As she turned to look at him, he had an expression of slight reproach, but evident care was written all over his face. She wanted to hate him for being that way, for making her feel so unsure of herself and adored.

This was the wrong place and time for such feelings. Stiffening up, Natasha tilted her head. "Why was Fury in your apartment?"

The blond shrugged - a rather unconvincing one in her estimation - and briefly shook his head. "I dunno."

_Oh, Steve. Why don't you leave lying to the experts?_

"Cap," said Rumlow from several feet away, interrupting them rudely. "They want you back at SHIELD."

Steve nodded at the man, replying, "Yeah, give me a second."

"They want you now." The words were spoken like someone who had been given authority to command and Steve took note of this.

"Okay."

Natasha knew that Steve was going to be questioned about what he and Fury last spoke of since he was the only person who had contact with him before he died. And, for some reason, she had a feeling that it wouldn't end well. Her long history as a Black Widow had given her a sense about these kind of things.

Perhaps she would do well to keep an eye on Steve, just in case. Who knew what could happen?

When her partner turned back to look at her, Natasha studied his face. He knew why Fury had come to his apartment, but he wasn't going to tell her about it. Her lips curled in a knowing and slightly pained smile as she said, "You're a terrible liar." Then she turned away and walked down the hall and around the corner.

She'd definitely been intent on leaving the hospital entirely, but her finely honed spy senses told her to stay and take another look at Steve. Once she rounded the corner, Natasha quietly counted to ten and glanced back down the hall. That was when she was taken by surprise.

The person refilling the vending machine was currently bent over, opening another box of goods and Steve took this opportunity to glance at the STRIKE team and take something out of his pocket.

Afterwards, Steve placed an item in the dispenser and quickly walked towards Rumlow and his team. Natasha may not have seen what he put inside the dispenser, but it didn't take much guessing to assume that it had been the flash drive she obtained for Fury.

She leaned against the wall and sighed. Why did Steve have the drive in his possession? Fury couldn't have given it to him, could he? No, that must not have been the case. There had to be another reason, another possibility. Something was **definitely** going on with SHIELD and it had to do with that drive.

There was one option, here. Natasha had to get that drive out of the vending machine before someone else found it and it got into the wrong hands. Natasha had no idea what information was on the device, but if the Winter Soldier killed Fury for it, it was very dangerous.

She checked down the hall again and Steve, as well as Rumlow and STRIKE were all gone. Natasha rounded the corner and nonchalantly walked to the vending machine. She peered into the glass and smiled when she saw the flash drive behind a few sticks of Hubba Bubba gum.

Not the most clever place to hide a device with secret information, but she gave him props for working with what he had. Natasha noticed that the gum was a dollar twenty-five per pack. Well, she hardly ever carried a purse and all she had on her at the moment was a couple hundred dollars.

Time to make a little visit to the bank.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may just add another kiss besides the escalator one, too...


	10. We're On The Run...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Steve and Natasha become fugitives from SHIELD._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this chapter is shorter than usual. Hopefully, the kiss scene makes up for it.

* * *

 

 

Natasha waited for Steve to come back from the Triskelion, but she didn't expect him to show up wearing sneakers, a hoodie and sweatpants that were a size too small for him. She was getting bad vibes from just the way he was dressed - added to the already existing bad vibes she got after Firy was murdered. Something must have happened at SHIELD.

As much as she wanted to go up and ask him what the hell was going on, Natasha decided that waiting would be the better choice. When Steve got in front of the candy dispenser and saw that the flash drive was gone, he looked surprised and distraught. That was when Natasha casually walked up behind him and popped her gum in his ear to get his attention.

And so it did. He saw her reflection in the glass and turned around to face her for a moment, then he grabbed her arm and pushed her forward. He moved them into an empty hospital room and shoved her up against the wall, hard. The impact made Natasha swallow her gum, which annoyed her as well as his being uncharacteristically forceful.

If the situation weren't so tense, Natasha might have made a joke about where they were, that maybe Steve was looking for a little kinky action in this room, but the look on his face warned her that he was not in the mood for her usual badinage. "Where is it?"

"Safe," she replied, giving him a glare.

"Do better."

_What the hell, Rogers? Seriously? If anyone should be asking a lot of questions, it's me._

"Where did you get it?"

"Why would I tell you?" The anger and distrust on Steve's face took Natasha aback and she realised that he was being overprotective about the flash drive. Someone must have given it to him and told him not to trust anyone. After all, Steve had lied to her about why Fury was in his apartment. That left her with one conclusion.

"Fury gave it to you, why?"

"What's on it?"

"I don't know."

He gave her a little shake. "Stop _lying_."

"I only _act_ like I know everything, Rogers." This was true. It was a part of the game she liked to play with him and it was fun, but in this moment, absolute truth would be needed. Steve was like a live wire and Natasha couldn't remember ever seeing him this angry. Seeing him react like this was a stark - no pun intended - difference to his usual easy going, somewhat awkward self.

Honestly, it was also a bit of an arousal to witness this transformation.

Someone with a cart wheeled by and Steve glanced behind them briefly to make sure no one saw them. Then he looked at Natasha and said, "I bet you knew that Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?"

Shit. He was quick. Natasha opened her mouth, not liking to have to admit that out loud, particularly while her partner was not in the best of moods. "Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in, so do you."

Steve shook her again. "I'm not gonna ask you again," he hissed. Hearing those words made her suck in air through her nose and clench her fingers until the fingernails left half moon marks inside her palms.

Better lay all your cards on the table Natalia, she thought to herself. This is a man who has nothing to lose. "I know who killed Fury."

At this, he looked surprised and let go of her arms. His silence was her cue to continue, so she did.

"Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years."

"So he's a ghost story."

_No, he isn't. Not for me._

"Five years ago, I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran. Somebody shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out, but the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer, so he shot him right through me." Natasha pulled up her shirt so Steve could see the scar her injury had left on her skin. "Soviet slug. No rifling." She couldn't help but add, "Bye, bye bikinis."

"Yeah, I bet you looked terrible in them now," he retorted with a mildly sarcastic look on his face.

Was he flirting with her?

Natasha looked at his lips briefly and wondered if she'd ever get to kiss him again. It was a silly thought and normally, she wouldn't have even bothered with such a trifle. But any possible intimacy with Steve wasn't a trifle to her.

She truly cared about him and it was obvious that he cared about her. Right now, he was just upset about what had happened to him and she understood that. At the end of the day when they settled everything and got to the bottom of what was on that flash drive and they needed to do it quietly, then Natasha could relax.

(Of course, if Steve was on the run from SHIELD, which was what she gathered from his change of clothes and hostile behavior, _quietly_ wasn't a word to accurately describe how they were going to deal with this.)

At the moment, her nerves were wound as tightly as Steve's. The only difference between them is that she hid it better. Whereas, if Steve was upset, you'd know it in a heartbeat. He didn't have the best poker face and when he felt a certain way, he expressed it. The way he expressed himself, whether subtle or obvious, he stayed true to who he was. It was one of his strengths.

It was also one of the countless reasons she was so damned attracted to him.

"Going after him is a dead end. I know, I've tried." She pulled the flash drive out of the front pocket of her jeans and held it up to him. "Like you said, he's a ghost story."

Steve took the drive from her, a look of speculation on his face, but he was no longer angry. "Well, let's find out what the ghost wants."

_"We?"_

"You're my partner, Nat. You have a connection to me and I wouldn't be surprised if SHIELD came after you too as a way to find me. They know how close we are."

_Do they?_

"So you're saying I'd be safer if we were together? That's pretty gallant of you, Steve."

"I also need you to hack into this thing because I'm pretty sure my skills aren't good enough for whatever information is on this," he held up the flash drive and the whispers of a grin danced on his lips.

Natasha sighed and crossed her arms. "Figures. You're really helpless without me. I guess if I didn't feel so used, I'd like the prospect."

"Nat, that's not what I meant..."

"It's fine. There's a mall a few blocks from here that has an Apple Store. I'll be able to log on to a computer and see what's on the drive, but we're going to need a new change of clothes. Something that will help us blend in there. It's best to use cash only because they can track credit cards."

He put the flash drive inside his sweatpants pocket. "We'll need to leave out the back way of the hospital. SHIELD will be after the both of us and this isn't a good place to be seen."

"Alright. Let's go." Natasha moved forward to go, but Steve caught her hand. She glanced at his palm covering hers and stared at him, curiously. "What?"

Without hesitation, he tugged her into his arms and kissed her hard. Natasha moaned at the sudden motion, not expecting it at all, but she sure as hell wasn't going to resist it. Her fingers dug into his scalp and held him closer, crushing their bodies together.

She slid her tongue into his mouth, enjoying the feel of his strong, muscled body against her softer one. Steve entwined his hand with her free one and held them to the wall. Gently, he brushed his nose to hers as they kissed, the warmth of his body heating her up like a raging fire.

There was nothing Natasha wanted to do more than slide her foot against Steve's leg and whisper the filthy things she wanted to do to him in his ear. God, she had the craziest desire to see him blush and run her fingers down to explore just how far down it went...but now just wasn't the time.

Natasha forced herself to pull back and give Steve a tiny shove, just enough to let him know she wanted him to stop. He did and opened his eyes, lips swollen, pulse erratic and eyes still tinged with arousal.

_Fuck._

He looked beautiful like this. If only they were in a normal situation, leading everyday lives, Natasha could take that picture and melt it away until it formed to an entirely different scene. She could see them reclining in bed together, happy. And Steve on top of her, except his lips would be curved into a smile as he kissed her entire face in adoration.

Unfortunately, Natasha's life was not a fairy tale and she was not married to Steve, regardless of how lovely that vision had been. Secretly, she promised to keep that scene in the tiniest part of her heart, all for herself. Knowing what could have been was the most sobering thing to wake up to.

"Let's go, Steve," she said hoarsely. "We have to get out of here. Do you know how to hotwire a car?"

"I'm an old pro." The blond grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes with determination. "Ready?"

Steve taking her hand had been yet another surprise, but Natasha pretended like tingles weren't going down her spine as she replied, "Always." 

 


	11. Like Bonnie and Clyde

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Steve and Natasha discover where the flash drive originated from and successfully manage to allude the SHIELD TAC team._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapters are going to be shorter because I've decided to end this portion of TSMtS after the TWS arc is completed. Once this part is finished, I will start working on the next entry in this series, which will be my version of the events in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War.

* * *

 

 

In the hospital parking lot, Steve hot wired a truck and they made their way to the nearest mall. Steve was in a hurry to see what was on the flash drive, but Natasha managed to convince him that they needed a change of clothes first.

"Preferably something with a hoodie, so if we need to cover our heads in a non-suspicious way, we can do it without drawing any unwanted attention." Then she glanced down at their footwear. "We'll get some new shoes, too."

"Is that really necessary?"

"Yes. We need to blend in and I've wanted to buy a new pair of shoes anyway, so this just happens to be a very convenient time to do it."

Steve just laughed.

When they were in the mall, Natasha didn't take her sweet time picking an outfit. Circumstances certainly were against it, so as much as she liked to browse and linger in a clothing store, she forced herself to make some quick decisions. By the time she was finished, Steve had chosen some clothes as well.

Natasha looked at the blue cap he held in his hand and shook her head. "You have a hoodie and you're getting a cap, too?"

"What? I've always liked caps." He grinned.

"Hilarious." In the corner of her eye, she spotted a pair of glasses and she handed those to him. He made a face and she put the glasses on him. "Just an extra precaution. Now, let's try these clothes on."

"Nat, we don't have time fo-"

"Look, I want to know just the hell is on this flash drive as much as you do, but SHIELD isn't going to know we're here yet. We can take a little bit of time and try these clothes on. Besides, they may not fit right because of how differently designers size things and it's better to be safe than sorry."

"...Alright."

Natasha led the way to the changing rooms and Steve went down the opposite path to the men's. Unfortunately, the women's but were all taken. "Guess we picked the wrong time to be fugitives," the redhead muttered in annoyance. She took a brief look around and hurried after Steve, coming behind him into the room he just entered.   
  
"Nat, what the _hell_?"

"Sorry, but I wasn't waiting for any of those other rooms to be available." As she spoke, she took off her jacket, toed out of her boots and shimmied out of her pants.

Steve swallowed hard at the sight of his lovely partner in a pair of black lace bikinis and a black spaghetti top. She was beautiful. He turned in the opposite direction and began to remove his own clothes, hands shaking slightly. "Fine. I guess it's okay."

A smirk spread across Natasha's face and she saw a light pink tint on her partner's cheeks. And oh, when he turned around, she ogled his back muscles with no shame. _Rippled like the waves in an ocean._ And with those glasses one, he had a sexy geek look that was surprisingly a turn on. God, how she wanted to touch him, feel every pec, ab and press her lips to that smooth skin.

The timing was incredibly off though, so she tamped down on her dirty thoughts and continued putting her clothes on. When she finished, she tapped Steve on the shoulder and he looked at her, also dressed. "How do I look?" Natasha twirled around exaggeratively and made a pose.

Steve bit back a groan and felt himself grow a bit hard looking at her. "You look...like a passable civilian."

"Passable? How completely romantic of you. And you don't look so bad, yourself." 

"Thanks. Now, let's get out of here." He started to remove his shirt, but Natasha stopped him.

"You can keep wearing them. This is the kind of store that lets you wear what you buy. Less hassle that way."

"Oh. That's a good idea."

"I agree." They left the room and paid for their stuff at the cash register. After that, they dumped their other clothes and headed to the nearest Apple Store.

Natasha could sense how tense Steve was getting. "The first rule of going on the run is don't run, walk."

"If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off."

She smirked at that. The new tennis shoes they bought were made for comfort, not fitness, but the Nike store had a limited selection, so they bought what they could. "Don't worry. When this all blows over, I'll buy you a new pair."

When they got into the Apple Store, Natasha got to a computer and logged on. "The drive has a level six homing program, so as soon as we boot up, SHIELD will know exactly where we are."

Steve was keeping watch to make sure there was no one suspicious in the vicinity. "How much time will we have?"

"About nine minutes from," she inserted the flash drive into the computer, "now." There was a brief pause as she clacked away on the keyboard. She tried to get to any information, but it proved to be a difficult task. "Fury was right about that ship. Somebody's trying to protect something. This drive is protected by some sort of AI. It keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."

"Can you override it?" Came Steve's inquiry.

At that, Natasha sighed. "The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. _Slightly_." Then a thought occurred to her. "I'm gonna try running a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware, so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from."

As they were getting close, an unfamiliar voice said, "Can I help you guys with anything?"

Before Steve could say anything - and probably put his foot in his mouth because he was **terrible**  coming up with a convincing cover - Natasha grabbed onto her partner's shoulders and replied in a silly, high-pitched voice. "Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations."

"Right we're getting married," Steve echoed, but his voice sounded like he couldn't believe that was the cover she used. Natasha didn't care what he thought about it, though. Hopefully, what she said would be a sign to tell the Apple Store employee to go away.

He didn't get the hint.

The employee - whose hair was honestly way too long and his beard made Natasha think that perhaps he'd seen Thor and the other Avengers on tv during the battle of New York and he was trying to emulate him - came a little closer to take a look at the computer. "Congratulations. Where are you guys thinking about going?"

Steve tensed and tried to hide the computer screen nonchalantly, but the man was a bit too close and it didn't work. Just then, the tracer got a hit. A flag went up that said New Jersey. And Steve said, "New Jersey," as well. After all, that's what the employee would assume from seeing the name.

"Oh." Nameless Apple Store employee looked at Steve as if something about him was familiar and Steve kind of cocked his head funny, silently hoping that this man hadn't realised who Steve was or they were going to be in a load of trouble. Luckily, his words weren't "Oh, my God. Captain America! I am your biggest fan!" But instead, "I have the exact same glasses."

"Wow, you two are practically twins," Natasha quipped dryly.

"Yeah, I wish," the employee said as he backed off and looked at Steve, holding his hands out. "Specimen."

Natasha almost snorted at that.

"If you guys need anything, I've been Aaron."

"Thank you," Natasha called half heartedly.

Steve watched Aaron leave and looked down at his watch. "You said it would be nine minutes. Come on."

"Shh. Relax." A few seconds later, the screen zoomed in and another flag popped up that said Wheaton, New Jersey. Natasha smiled triumphantly and looked at Steve, but she dropped it when she saw a strange look on his face. "You know it?"

He bent down and stared at the screen. "I used to. Let's go." He pulled the drive out of the computer - which, by the way, is not the right way to remove a memory stick from any device - and they took off.

Once they were out in the open, Steve noticed several people in black clothing in different positions in the mall. "Standard TAC team. Two behind, two across, and two coming straight at us. If they make us, I'll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro."

Not that Natasha didn't appreciate Steve's tactical mind, but she preferred that they get out of the mall with no injuries. "Shut up and put your arm around me. Laugh at something I said."

"What?"

"Do it."

So Steve put his around around Natasha and they both their heads, smiling as he let out a chuckle. The agents walks right past them and he glanced back, thanking his lucky stars they hadn't been made. A fight in the mall would not have been desirable.

Minutes later, they reached the escalator, heading to the ground level. Steve was standing one step behind Natasha and she was the one who noticed Rumlow on the opposite escalator. This was too close to call. There's no way they could be so nearby and he wouldn't see them.

Quickly, the redhead turned on her heels and said to her partner quite urgently, "Kiss me."

"What?" Steve sounded confused.

"Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable."

"Yes, they do."

Natasha didn't wait for him to get why she told him to kiss her. Instead, she just grabbed him by the neck and pulled his head down to hers. The kiss was actually nice for such a tense situation. Her hoodie fell back and Steve began to respond, applying a bit of pressure to her mouth and resting his hand on her hip.

The kiss was sweet and soft and Steve was lucky that they were in a public place because Natasha's wanton desire to rip his clothes off and have her way with him rose up again. She held the kiss for ten seconds and pulled away. It pleased her to see Steve's lips still pursed and his eyes closed a few seconds after she moved back.

It was almost like he hadn't remembered when to stop kissing a woman. Interesting. Natasha started walking down as they descended the escalator, saying a bit cheekily, "You still uncomfortable?"

"That's not exactly the word I would use."

A quick glance at the front of his pants made Natasha smirk. She knew what he meant.

 

 


	12. Tell Me Something Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Natasha and Steve bond during their drive to Fort Lehigh._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is shorter than the others since I've already written stories that deal with these scenes and it's mainly a series about Steve and Nat's relationship, so even though it follows through canon events in the MCU, I'm only going to spend time writing the moments that are the most relevant to this story.

* * *

 

Steve could feel Natasha's eyes on him, but he didn't say anything. That kiss she gave him still burned in the back of his mind He'd only been kissed three times prior to the escalator kiss, but **that** kiss was pretty damn hot.

The intensity of it had caused Steve's blood to boil and his pants had become very tight in a matter of seconds. Needless to say, he'd never experienced such a reaction to a kiss before and he was certain that, over time, he'd slowly become "whipped" for Natasha, as the term went. But Steve kept that knowledge to himself. The situation they were in was perilous and he had to rein in his emotions to stay focused on their mission.

Luckily, Natasha didn't mention the kiss. Instead, she decided to go for small talk asked him, "Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?"  
   
"Nazi Germany."  
   
"Mm."

He glanced at her feet where they were currently on the dashboard. Feeling like he needed to keep a determined role of authority to combat Natasha's cheekiness, he said, "And we're borrowing. Take your feet off the dash."

Natasha looked at him out of the corner of her eye and slowly moved her feet down. Their eyes met briefly and Steve was surprised by the desire he saw in her green orbs. He locked that memory away to remember it for future examination.  
   
"Alright, I have a question for you, which you do not have to answer. I feel like if you don't answer it, though, you're kind of answering it, you know?"  
   
Oh, boy. She was up to something. "What?"  
   
Natasha grinned. "Was that your first kiss since 1945?"  
   
Well, so much for hoping she'd never talk about it. "That bad, huh?"  
   
"I didn't say that."  
   
"Well, it kind of _sounds_ like that's what you're saying." If he sounded a little defensive, it's because he was. Steve may not have gone around kissing women left and right, but he was certain that he wasn't terrible.  
   
"No, I didn't. I just wondered how much practice you've had." He thought Natasha was saying that he was bad, but that wasn't true. She actually enjoyed that kiss a **lot**. From the way he opened up to her so willingly and how his hand curved on her hip with such tenderness, she realised that it had been a long time since he'd been in that position with a woman. Steve trusted her enough to be vulnerable with her in that moment and that made her feel good.  
   
"You don't need practice." How long was she going to keep this up? Not that he couldn't match her quips, but Steve was a little awkward when it came to discussions about intimacy. Particularly with _this_ woman. She affected him too much.  
   
The corner of Natasha's lips were still perked up. "Everybody needs practice."  
   
"It was not my first kiss since 1945. I'm 95, I'm not dead."

"Mm, I call bullshit."

"It wouldn't be the first time."

"Or the last." Natasha placed her hand on his thigh.

"Nat, what the hell are you doing?"

"Touching your thigh, obviously."

"You're going to distract me."

Her words came out huskily. "Well, seeing as how you've distracted me since the moment you walked into my life, I figure you owe me one."

 _Oh._ Steve's breath hitched and just in time, there was a red light, so he slowed the truck down and looked at her. "I've distracted you from the moment we met?"

"Yes. Don't play dumb, Rogers. You know that."

She was right. He did, but he always had those troublesome little doubts that maybe he was overestimating her feelings for him and underestimating his importance to her. "You want me to be honest?"

"Please." 

"...I've wanted you ever since I watched you jump off my shield in New York."

Natasha's breath hitched and she stared at him, her gaze warm. "Steve," she said softly.

The supersoldier swallowed and thankfully, they had to stop at a red light. When he put the car in neutral, Natasha unbuckled her seatbelt and slid to the middle seat. She pressed her lips to his and cupped the side of his face with her hand. Steve groaned and he entwined his fingers with hers, holding tightly to her as if he'd lose her if he didn't.

"I want you too," she said breathlessly as she pulled back to look him in the eyes again. "I've always wanted you. I keep...telling myself that I'm not good for you, but it's getting harder to deny these feelings. Every time we're alone, I think about touching you" - she brushed her nose along his throat - "kissing you" - she placed tiny kisses on the skin - "corrupting you." Her hand cupped his crotch and stroked him, making him moan. "I've never wanted anyone this badly and if we weren't fugitives from SHIELD right now, I'd strip you naked and have my way with you in this car."

Steve's eyes opened and the desire that ran through his body made him shake. His breathing was shaky. "And I'd make you my scream my name until you begged for mercy, but the timing isn't ideal."

"That doesn't mean we can't make it work. When the dust settles, you and I need to have a talk. Figure all of this out."

"I agree," he said with a little laugh.

Natasha smoothed her thumb along his cheek and drew back. "The light is green."

Steve pressed a kiss on her finger before moving the truck down the road again. Their hands were still entwined as he drove and stayed like that for a while. Then Natasha's stomach began to growl.

They both laughed and she covered her stomach, groaning. "God, I haven't eaten since breakfast. I usually never get food when I'm on the run, but do you think you could stop by a little convenience store when we come across one?"

"Sure. I'm kind of hungry, too."

Natasha took out her phone and located a gas station less than two miles away. "Good. There's one nearby. I hope they have moon pies and hot dogs on a grill. I'm so hungry I could eat three all by themselves and without a bun."

A smirk spread on Steve's face. "Then I guess I'd better drive faster. I wouldn't want you to be deprived of your hot dogs and moon pies."

"You're my kind of guy, Rogers. Don't worry. I'll make sure to reward you handsomely."

The air between Steve and Natasha was charged with contentment and sensuality. Never would the two have guessed that their whole world would come crashing down around them before the day was over.

 


	13. Cover Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Natasha and Steve deal with the emotional fallout from SHIELD/HYDRA revelation._

* * *

Natasha dried her hair silently and Steve watched her in the bathroom mirror. What they heard from Zola last night had haunted them both. It hurt Steve to know that the organisation Peggy helped found was tainted from the very beginning by the enemy Steve thought he'd defeated long ago.

HYDRA and SHIELD. Entwined together from the moment of conception. It was horrifying, like Steve's worst nightmare come true. He barely had time to process it after the missile attack. The only thing he could do was think of Natasha. Protect her. Protect her. The words were like a mantra that kept running through his brain.

He had no idea how far he carried the redhead before she finally woke up. They'd travelled through the forest around Fort Lehigh as the tall trees provided good cover and a forest was harder to navigate at night.

Steve and Natasha luckily managed to avoid their pursuers and after three miles, they reached the end of the woods and stole a car that they found at a small motel across the road.

There was no time for rest. Who knew how far or how close SHIELD/HYDRA was to them? So, they drove all night and back to Washington until they found an empty car lot at a super market and continued on foot to Sam Wilson's house. The man knew something was wrong when he answered the door and saw the dirt on Steve and Natasha's faces and how tired they were.

A sense of foreboding hit Sam in the chest even harder when Natasha said "Everyone we know is trying to kill us." Those words had shocked Sam because if Captain America and Black Widow were being hunted, it must be _really_ bad.

Thankfully, Sam knew who Steve was and had even begun to build a friendship with him. Plus, he was also Captain America, one of Sam's biggest heroes growing up and if the man needed his help, he would offer it willingly.

Sam put them both in his guest room and gave them some towels so they could take a shower or showers. He wasn't sure exactly what kind of relationship Steve and Natasha had and he knew it was none of his business to ask. He wondered, of course, but had no evidence to assume anything besides the fact that he witnessed the redhead picking her partner up.

Currently, Steve was finishing up in the bathroom - he let Natasha use it first; besides doing it for chivalry's sake, he suspected that she needed to be alone for a while. He kept glancing at her in the mirror and she had this far away look, as if she was trying to keep from showing too much emotion on her face.

"You okay?" He asked and she answered with an immediate, "Yeah." But Steve knew his partner too well to believe that. He put down the towel he'd been drying his hands on and went in the bedroom to sit in the chair across from her.

"What's going on?" His voice was softer this time and Natasha looked at him with those green eyes, unease and tension in her shoulders.

But despite how uncomfortable she felt in this moment, she knew that she was safe with Steve. She always had been safe with him and that was what finally gave her the courage to speak. "When I first joined SHIELD, I thought I was going straight...but I guess I just traded in the KBG for HYDRA."  
   
"I _thought_ I knew whose lies I was telling, but I guess I can't tell the difference anymore." She smiled crookedly and cocked her head to the side. Realizing that she'd been working for the bad guys - especially after all of the terrible things she had done in the past - was a horrible revelation. If Natasha were a lesser woman, she'd have a fit, but that wouldn't change a thing. She was just grateful to not be alone in this.  
"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business."

At the quip, Natasha looked up at Steve in mild shock. She remembered months ago how they'd been talking to each other about relationships and she'd asked him what he wanted her to be. When he said "How about a friend?" she chuckled and said "Well, there's a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers." And now, he used those exact words. He must not have forgotten that discussion. Natasha felt her chest warm and she replied in a hushed voice, "I owe you."  
   
"It's okay." Steve shook his head.

But Natasha was not going to be deterred. This was important to her and she would not be able to relax until she knew the truth. Her facial expression was serious as she said, "If it was the other way around and it was down to me to save your life, now, you be honest with me...would you trust me to do it?" She wanted - no, _needed_ to to know if Steve could trust her implicitly. It made no sense because he knew the kind of woman she was, that she had to be changeable to do her job.

They had clashed more than once about that aspect of her personality, but all the while, Steve pushed her to be better than she could be, to not lose herself in the job. In so many ways, he'd proven to be her perfect partner in more than merely working alongside each other. Steve had proven that he was more than worthy of her full trust, but Natasha had to know what he felt about her.

For all the possibilities his absolute trust would provide her, a relationship that was deeper than friends was in their grasp.

Steve watched her for a moment before he spoke. "I would _now_. And I'm always honest."

Those words were the most lovely thing Natasha had ever heard from his lips and a delightful chill ran down her spine as she closed her eyes, sighing softly. A minute must have passed before she opened them again and held out her hand to Steve. "C'mere."

Steve moved to sit on the bed next to her and she rested her head on his strong shoulder. He rubbed circles on the expanse of her back. "You're not alone, Nat. Not anymore. You'll always have me."

"Thank you," her voice was muffled as she spoke against his skin.

Neither noticed Sam standing in the doorway with a small smile on his face. He'd come to the room to inform his guests that he made breakfast, but seeing Steve and Natasha holding each other in such an intimate way, he decided to back away and let them have this moment. Evidently, there were tender feelings between the soldier and the spy and they needed more time by themselves.

 


	14. Resolutions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Steve and Natasha have a moment together before they take down SHIELD._

* * *

 

   
"Nat, are you alright?"

The redhead looked up to see Steve in front of her, a curious expression on his face.

"Oh...yeah." Mild discomfort surged through her arm as she sat up. "Guess I shouldn't have been lying down like this." She gave him a tiny smile. Why aren't you getting rest?"

He smiled a little. "I only need a few hours of sleep, remember? Courtesy of the super soldier serum."

"Right. Well, that serum comes in handy for everything."

"It really does. How's the wound?" Steve glanced at Natasha's bandage covered shoulder.

"It's better. The pain meds they gave me are helping and I'm confident that I can do my part in the mission tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Don't worry, Steve. I've had much worse injuries in my time." Natasha sighed and she recalled how he stopped the Winter Soldier from killing her earlier today. If it weren't for Steve, she'd be dead.

After a very intense and near death experience at the hands of the Winter Soldier who was revealed to be a brainwashed Bucky Barnes, Natasha had been resigned to her fate. In less than an hour, their plan to infiltrate the Triskelion and expose Alexander Pierce along with HYDRA had been destroyed. Luckily, Maria Hill was in disguise as a HYDRA agent and quickly whisked them away to freedom.

Natasha couldn't help the hurt that she felt when she found out that Fury was alive this entire time and he kept it from her. Of course, feelings meant nothing when there were much more important stakes, but the man was like a father figure to her, for crying out loud.

Nick had to keep his circle small, which Natasha understood perfectly, because if she were in his shoes, she would have done the same thing. As an agent and a spy, Natasha was used to working on her own or keeping others deceived to keep her mission objective quiet. Surprisingly, her time with Steve as they'd been on the run made her realise that he was one of very, very few people whom she could trust completely.

Now, looking back, she knew that if she _had_ found herself in Nick's situation, she would leave Steve some way to contact her. Not many people could claim such a privilege, but Steve had proven that he was worthy of it.

"Nat?" Steve sounded worried and Natasha covered his hand with hers.

"I'm fine. Just...thinking."

"About the plan?"

Although, Natasha thought that she wasn't looking forward to being in the same room as Alexander Pierce without being able to automatically put a bullet in him. "No, you and Fury explained everything perfectly. I know my part so well, I could do it in my sleep." When she said the former SHIELD director's name, her lips twitched slightly.

Steve sat on the side of the bed next to her and watched her carefully without saying anything. It started to make her feel a little awkward and she was just about to crack a dumb joke to change the subject when he said, "You're upset about Fury."

It was a statement, not a question.

"Not really upset, just...okay, yeah. I'm upset."

"Because he didn't tell you about his plan."

"Well, yes and no. Nick and I feel the same way about people. There's only so much you can confide in them before they try to blindside you and betray you. Well, most of them. Nick knows I would never do anything against him because I've proven my loyalty many times in the past. But as good as I am, I could still end up compromised and he couldn't take the chance of that happening. I may have expected him to react this way now, but that doesn't make it hurt any less."

"Being in the spy business encouraged a mindset of having precautions when it comes to your own people. Sometimes it's necessary to consider the possibility of your mission failing or you getting caught. So we create back up plans we keep to ourselves and only reveal our cards when we have to. I know you hate that concept and after everything we've been through today, I can't say I blame you."

Natasha took Steve's hand in hers and squeezed it gently. "I want you to know that meeting you changed a lot of things for me. Even though it was just the two of us running from SHIELD, I knew that I could rely on you like I never could with anyone else, except Clint."

"You don't like being kept in the dark because you can't protect your team that way. Most people would consider that to be a weakness on your part, say that you're not flexible, but that isn't true. Your solidarity is one of your biggest strengths. And it's something I've begun to admire about you. I know that saying I'm sorry isn't much of a start, but-"

Steve interrupted her, brushing his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. He cupped the apple of her cheek and smoothed her skin gently for a brief moment, then pulled back to look at her.

"You've already been forgiven, Natasha."

A tightness that the redhead had never realised was in her chest finally released, making her feel at ease. "Thank you, Steve. I can't remember if I've ever heard anyone say that to me, but the first time is the charm." Natasha entwined her fingers with his.

The soldier smiled briefly, but there was a worried look in his eyes. It was like the weight of the world was on his shoulders and after today, Natasha knew exactly what he was thinking about.

"No amount of guilt is going to change what happened to Bucky, so don't blame yourself."

Steve nodded as he rubbed his knuckles against Natasha's shoulder. "Easier said than done, but...I'll try."

"Good." She knew that Steve would be unwilling to let go of his friend and might even sacrifice himself to save him, but she made a solemn vow not to let Steve die. Not on her watch. No matter what people may say about him tomorrow, Steve Rogers was a good man that the world needed.

 


	15. A Different View

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _What was going through Natasha's head during the mission?_

* * *

 

 

_"Are you ready for the world to see you as you really are?"_

That was a question Pierce had no right to ask and it really annoyed Natasha. Although, she was a master at keeping her emotions bottled up, so the disgust didn't show on her face. Why did the bad guy always feel it necessary to talk when they were beaten? It was such an tired cliché.

She stared the bastard down and replied with a voice full of ice, "Are you?"

Nothing but silence. It was nice to hear for once and the expression on Pierce's face made thints even better.

HYDRA had been an instrument in bringing her great pain in her life and here it was, in SHIELD, the organization that she'd been working for. 

Just when she thought she had begun picking up the pieces of her life and making a turn for good, HYDRA ruins it all. If Natasha were weak, she'd let this make her a bitter woman and revert back to the cold, calculating spy she used to be.

But she couldn't. She was a new person now and yes, okay, it was **terrifying** to think of her biggest secrets being on the internet for anyone to find - they were all heavily encrypted, but one day, some smart techie might manage to break the code and read every horrible thing about her.

Life was full of so many what ifs, but this was a sure thing. Protecting America and the world at large from the evils of HYDRA was more important than Natasha's ledger. That motivation gave her the strength to carry on.

As she dumped everything online, she hoped that Steve and Sam were close to being finished overriding the helicarriers. The Winter Soldier was still out there and she had no doubt that he'd intervene with their mission.

Natasha scoffed inwardly. Here, millions of peoples' lives were at stake and all she could think of is Steve. The man had rooted his way into her heart and no matter how these events turned out, Natasha knew that she would always care about him and...love him.

_You're compromised, Natalia. And you like it, don't you?_

_No. Do not go there. Not now._

Natasha focused on her work, tuning out the distractions in her mind and in a few more moments, the data was on the net. Natasha felt satisfaction and relief all at once, but it was short lived when she noticed Pierce press down on his phone. The WSC council members cried out  and there was a shock that went through their bodies, generated from the pins Pierce gave each of them before entering the building. In less than a minute, they all dropped to the ground, dead. The only evidence that they'd been killed was a hole that burned right through their sternum.

Pierce held the phone out with his hand and made Natasha move towards him. Since she didn't wish to be killed as well, she complied. However, when his eyes were on Nick, she pressed the tiny spider shocker disc in her hand, her widow's bites. The small device set off a sharp, electromagnetic pulse through he body, which disarmed the pin on her dress and rendered her unconscious.

Natasha vaguely heard the sound of a gunshot after that and there was silence for a moment. Then, someone was shaking her wake. "Natasha! Come on!"

She knew that the voice belonged to Nick and she groaned, blinking as she regained consciousness. "Damn. Those things do sting."

"We have to get out of here." Nick helped her up and they made their way to the chopper. Natasha didn't feel bad about Pierce being shot, of course. Who would? The man was evil and prison was far too good for him. She was only disappointed that she hadn't been the one to do it.

Once Natasha was in the helicopter, she began to take off her disguise of Councilwoman Hawley and don her Black Widow suit. In less than a minute her disguise was discarded and the chopper lifted into the air. While they were flying around, voices crackled over the personal com unit.

Steve had switched out the last chip and said something that Natasha was unable to hear. Maria replied with a soft "But Steve", only to hear the soldier's urgent reply of "Do it! Do it now!" and the sound of those words made Natasha's heart pound. Did he just order Maria to fire the helicarriers while he was still on one of them? There was no reply from him and Natasha knew that was because he had purposely gone into radio silence or he was too badly injured to respond.

_Shit, shit, shit._

That was not a part of the plan. Natasha fought the worry that threatened to strangle her and remembered that they needed to find San. The Triskelion had been hit by one of the helicarriers and time was wasting.

"Sam! Sam, where you?!"

It was hard to hear with the loud sounds of all the destruction around her, but time was of the essence. They needed to pinpoint Sam's position so they could get him before the building collapsed.

"41st floor! Northwest corner!"

"We're on it! Stay where you are!"

"Not an option!"

The helicarrier crashed into the Triskelion and Sam had just leaped out of the open window.

Fury saw him in the nick of time and veered the helicopter upwards so he'd fall right through. Natasha grabbed onto his arm and pulled him in.

"41st floor!" Sam yelled. "41st!"

"It's not like they paint the floor numbers on the outside of the building!" Fury yelled back, but Natasha ignored them both. She needed to know where Steve was.

"Hill! Where's Steve? You got a location on Rogers?!"

It took Maria several moments before she could reply, likely because she was getting safely enough away from the Triskelion. Fury didn't try to land the helicopter yet, just kept it running in place. A few minutes passed, then Maria's voice was loud and clear on the coms.

"He's been out of radio contact since he ordered me to fire the helicarriers weapons. I think he may have gotten out and lost consciousness."

Fury nodded and started the helicopter on a descent towards the ground. "Then we should search every surrounding area. He can't be too far."

It was either that or the Winter Soldier killed him and Natasha dug her fingernails into her knee at the thought. Hopefully, Steve had survived.

 


	16. Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Natasha finds Steve on the bank and they share a moment together at the hospital._

* * *

Once the helicopter landed, Natasha, Fury, Sam and Maria went to search for Steve. They knew that the super soldier wouldn't have been killed if he went down with the helicarrier, so they spread out in separate sections to find him.

Natasha was on the west part of the bank and she was frustrated, perspiration beading on her forehead as she looked around for Steve.

_Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay._

The words kept running in her head like a mantra and for good reason. Natasha had faced the Winter Soldier twice and nearly lost her in both encounters. Steve was stronger than she was, but the HYDRA assassin was just as strong. If Steve wasn't dead after his fight with the Winter Soldier, he was definitely badly injured.

Fear of the unknown regarding her partner occupied Natasha's mind so much that she nearly stepped on the man when she got closer to the bank.

"Steve!" She fell to the ground and held his head up to her chest. There were bruises forming on his face and he was unconscious. Natasha looked around in confusion. How in the world did he even get here? She doubted that he crawled out of the water himself after that fall. Someone had to help him...

Could it be? Had Bucky broken through his programming just long enough to drag his best friend onto dry land? Natasha knew all too well what organizations like HYDRA did to their operatives. Their practices were similar to the red room's. If Bucky was able to fight the brainwashing he'd been forced into...

But that didn't matter right now. Steve was hurt. Natasha tapped her com and spoke to the others in the search party. "This is Romanoff. I found Steve on the west bank of the river. He's unconscious and needs medical attention."

It didn't take Fury long to respond. "We copy, Romanoff. Heading to you."

Natasha wiped some of the mud off Steve's face and let out a sigh. The fear she'd felt so strongly when she was looking for him slowly evaporated. His injuries were concerning, but Natasha reminded herself that the serum running through his veins would heal him quickly.

She was just happy to find him.

"I got you," she said in a soft whisper and she placed a gentle kiss on his brow.

 

* * *

 

Natasha hadn't meant to fall asleep by Steve's bedside, but she was tired. Her gunshot wound had been healing up nicely, but the doctors still wanted her to stay at the hospital as a precaution.

It was the one time in her life where she didn't argue with hospital staff, but there was a reason she stayed. Steve lie unconscious on his bed and Natasha wasn't going to leave his side for anything.

Sam stayed too, which she appreciated. Even though she was little more than a stranger to the man, she could tell that he and Steve had become good friends. Natasha was glad because it showed how far her partner had come in the last few years. He opened himself up a bit and found a place among this modern world. Perhaps not exactly fitting in, but with a man like Steve Rogers shouldn't fit in with normal society. He was better than it.

There was a soft call of Natasha's name that reached her through her haze of sleep. Her head lolled to the side and unfortunately, she felt a painful crick in her neck that pulled her into the realm of the waking.

"Damn, that hurts," she grumbled to herself as her eyes opened. The overhead lights from the ceiling made her squint and it took a few blinks before she could see properly.

Steve lie on his hospital bed, eyes locked onto her form.

Something inside of Natasha jumped and she made a tsk sound. "So it was you who called me."

"Well, it's about time you got up."

She raised her brow at him. "I think I should be saying that to you. It's been two days since I've seen those blue eyes of yours, soldier."

"Is that your way of flirting?"

"Maybe. Is it working?"

"I guess. If you give me a kiss, I can give you a better answer."

Natasha rolled her eyes, but leaned forward to brush her lips against his forehead.

"That's not exactly what I meant."

"Too bad. You're a little too hurt right now for the kind of kiss I have in mind. I need you at one hundred percent peak efficiency."

"Then I should go back to sleep."

"Growing boys need their rest."

"Okay, now I'm insulted."

"Rise above."

"Smart ass."

"Language."

"Shut up."

Natasha laughed silently and placed her hand on Steve's. He squeezed in return and she felt her heart squeeze a little. This man affected her far too much, but she loved every bit of it. Her eyes glanced at the clock on the wall across the bed. 7:24. In a couple of hours, she'd have to explain to congress why she and Steve took down SHIELD along with HYDRA as well as expose their secrets on the internet.

Honestly, she'd rather just stay here with Steve. Natasha never had any use for power hungry politicians.

"Bucky saved me, Nat."

Steve's voice was low, but she heard him clearly. "He did?"

"Yes. I was going to let him kill me on the helicarrier. I didn't want to fight him anymore, I couldn't. But he stopped when I told him something he said to me years ago after my ma died."

"And what was that?"

""I'm with you til the end of the line." Those words meant a lot to me, Nat. Bucky and I used to say that to each other whenever we were going through tough times. And when I said it to him...somehow, it worked because he stopped hitting me. It wasn't long after that when the helicarrier crashed into the water. I can remember how heavy I felt as I sank, but the last thing I saw was an arm reaching out for me."

"I found you on the bank. Bucky dragged you ashore." Natasha shook her head in amazement. Looking at Steve, she could see the hope shining in his eyes and it was beautiful in contrast to the pained resignation that had been on his face after he realised that Bucky was the Winter Soldier.

"If he saved your life after everything he endured from HYDRA, then there's a good chance the programming can be undone."

"Yeah."

"I'm going to get you a a pitcher of water. You should hydrate."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Natasha couldn't stop herself from smiling and she got up to leave the room, but Steve's hand grabbed on to hers.

"Nat, before you go, I have something to ask you..."

 


	17. For Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Natasha and Steve share a moment together in the hospital._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the ridiculously late update, guys. I have been so busy, tired and sidetracked. Plus, I went to see Infinity War a few days ago and I'm still reeling from it. What a beautiful, tragic masterpiece. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much as you enjoyed the entire story.

* * *

 

 

Natasha felt a hand cover hers and squeeze ever so slightly, a prompting which pulled her away from sleep and awakened her. Her green eyes opened slowly to see the baby blues that belonged to her partner staring up at her face. A smile spread on her lips.

"Hey, soldier. Finally decided to wake up, huh?"

"Well, I've slept enough for a lifetime."

"I believe you. Seventy plus years is a pretty long catnap."

Steve closed his eyes momentarily and when they opened again, he glanced around. His voice was a bit raspy as he said, "Where's Sam?"

"He's in the cafeteria getting something to eat. So tell me, what does _on your left_ mean? He said you told him that when you woke up a few hours ago."

"Oh, that. It's, uh, it's a phrase I teased him with when we were both jogging in the morning. I kept running past him every few minutes and I'd say "On your left" as I did because I would run past him on the left side."

"So that's how you two met. When you were being a show off. I always knew you had a cocky streak inside of that wholesome, red-blooded American heart."

"I wasn't showing off."

"Forget it, Steve. I know you too well. You can't pull the wool over my eyes." Natasha poked his chest then covered his hand, squeezing it gently. Her voice became serious. "Don't ever do that to me again."

It didn't take a genius to understand what she meant. "I won't. Taking a beating is something I'm used to, but the next time I see Bucky, it'll be different."

"Steve..." Natasha sighed and shook her head. Sometimes she wondered if Steve was too headstrong or just a little insane. "He nearly killed you. I mean, have you looked into a mirror lately?"

"He stopped."

"What do you mean?"

"Bucky could have finished me off, but he didn't. I got through to him right before I fell out of the helicarrier."

"What are you going to do now, look for him?"

"I have to. He's my family." When Natasha sighed, Steve tugged her closer. "You can't say you wouldn't do the same for Clint."

She and looked away, but Steve cupped her face in his hands, thumb brushing her bottom lip. The tenderness in his caress made her smile resignedly and turn her gaze back to him.

"I would because he's my family, too."

"Then you understand why I have to go."

"Yes." Natasha didn't add that she wouldn't be able to go with him. Right now, he needed to get better before she told him. Everything that they went through the past couple of days and this morning, she had that awful hearing with Congress.

Natasha had never been so grateful to leave a room in her life. Granted, that wasn't the first time she'd been under scrutiny from a bunch of long winded politicians. She never liked being in a building full of people wanting to arrest her and throw her in prison. She couldn't deny that she deserved that sort of treatment for the horrible things she'd done in the past.

Still, it was much more preferable to fight a battle or use her skills in espionage than sit and be still while the idiots on Capitol Hill hemmed and hawed about whether she was in the right to leak SHIELD's secrets online. They probably would have liked it if she hadn't released everything and HYDRA would've kept growing inside SHIELD like the cancer that it was.

It'd be no surprise if there were HYDRA agents among those politicians. People in power always harbor corruption in their ranks.

The target on Natasha's back was no doubt hilariously high - as if it wasn't already - by now since she released the files. For the moment, her best bet would be to create another alias for herself and leave the states until things died down a bit.

A twinge in her gut was present as she thought about what she'd have to do. The relationship between Steve and Natasha had grown considerably during the few years they'd been partners and friends and she could already feel their upcoming separation with dread. It was ridiculous, really. She had a life before Steve and she would continue having one whether he was in it or not.

"Nat?"

The redhead blinked a few times and focused on Steve, who watched her curiously. "What is it?"

"I asked if you were okay."

"Definitely. Couldn't be better." Natasha smiled down at her partner and gave him a brief kiss on the lips.

Just then, Sam came in the room with a tray in his hands. "Alright, you two. Keep it PG." His words were spoken in a friendly, joking manner. Steve pulled back and crossed his arms, acting nonchalant and Natasha rolled her eyes.

A stomach growled and Steve groaned. "Please tell me that you got something hearty. I am famished."

"Of course, Cap. I loaded so much food on this tray, the cafeteria workers looked at me like I was crazy. Here, I got two corned beef sandwiches, chili cheese fries, a bowl of minestrone, a few packs of oyster crackers, five yeast rolls, a chef salad, three big chicken egg rolls, baked spaghetti, a couple of extra cups and a refill of ice water because we'll need to drink that more than juice or soda after eating."

Steve sat up in his bed, eyeing the food hungrily. "You picked some good stuff, Sam."

"I'll say," Natasha echoed. "Let's dig in, shall we?" She took the pitcher of water and set the two cups down, pouring the liquid into each perspective tumbler. Sam doled out the portions everyone wanted, Steve said a small prayer and they began eating.

Natasha didn't know Sam, but he was a person one could easily get along with and since he helped she and Steve, she was obliged to think well of him. The three spent time in that hospital room talking, sharing funny stories about the Avengers and life in general. It made Natasha feel a bit melancholy.

She would indeed miss this camaraderie, this sense of contentment and belonging that she'd started feeling ever since she and Steve grew closer. The inner dread of being separated from him the future was still present, but they had now and perhaps, in the long run, that would be enough.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know some of you were probably wondering why I didn't end this story with my version of the graveyard scene from TWS. Well, I decided to add that scene in the next installment of this series. I plan to cover Age of Ultron - with a heavy rewrite to dump that godforsaken Brutasha subplot, yikes - and Civil War together in a follow up fic to this one. It won't be posted right away because I have to write a few other Romanogers stories first, but I can say with absolute certainty that it will be published before Infinity War comes out on dvd. Thank you all so much for reading through the long process of The Soldier Meets The Spy. I appreciate every one of you guys.❤️


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